Innocence
by Alina-Cantha
Summary: Chapter 7 up! The target is achieved, and the girls are undercover. What is hiding in this out-of-the-way village?
1. Destiny Strikes

**Welcome, welcome. This is currently my only fan-fic on here right now, although I have written some in the past. Based on the Hyuuga clan, but mostly Hinata, this is my first Naruto fan-fic. Hope you enjoy, read and review.**

**DISCLAIMER: Hinata, and all the other Naruto characters, as well as the whole Naruto-verse belong to Masashi Kishimoto...not me.**

**Chapter 1: Destiny Strikes**

Hinata spun and planted a foot squarely in the middle of her opponent's back. The smaller girl fell forward and rolled, whipping around to face her as she regained her feet. Hinata saw the telltale wrist flick of a reach for shuriken and dodged to the side. The three stars fell in a neat pattern: top, bottom, middle. If she'd moved forward or back, they would have struck her.

A kunai in each hand, she swiftly circled her serious-faced opponent. With any luck… She darted forward to strike a final blow. "Hold!" a sharp, deep voice bellowed. Her body froze, practically in mid-air. Kanashibari no Jutsu. The muscles in her legs began to cramp, forcibly holding her body in a precarious position. Sweat ran down her face, stinging her eyes.

Her father stood, unfolding himself from his position on the floor. "Hinata, you are dismissed," he said briskly. He released the jutsu and she fell to the ground, unprepared. Hanabi, her younger sister and opponent, turned and glared at her with contempt. The seven-year-old spit on the floor in contempt before trotting to her father to take his criticism and praise.

She could hear her father begin to scold Hanabi as she pushed herself up off the floor, limping a little as one of the intermittent muscle cramps that were an aftereffect of the Kanashibari no Jutsu struck her calf muscles. Hinata sighed and headed to her room.

She was aware that by making her spar with her seven-year-old sister, her father was trying to either motivate or crush her. She just hadn't decided which one yet. He had banned actual jutsus, and they used blunted weapons with chalk on the tips to mark their hits, but she felt that was just a precaution so Hanabi didn't get hurt. Everybody else was right though. She wasn't strong. She couldn't even beat her own little sister, and that was a difference of five years. Hanabi could barely control her Byakugan and could still beat her…

Hinata turned and shoved the window open, letting in a gust of fresh air and blowing all the thoughts of her family out of her head. Taking a deep breath of the clean breeze, she relaxed a little. She pushed a large cabinet aside, revealing a hole in the wall behind it. She reached her arm in and pulled out a large wooden box, closed with two silver latches on the front. It contained her entire collection of home-made medicines. Her hand traced over the bottles full of liquids and powders, finally selecting a large blue glass bottle. She held it up to the window, one eye to the liquid level, shook it, and uncorked it, swallowing a dose. The bitter liquid stung going down her throat. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra, speeding the medicine through her body. In a few moments, the muscle cramps in her legs eased.

She recorked the bottle and replaced it in the wooden box, glancing over the other medicines. She realized she was low on bruise ointment. With a soft clack, she set the box on the low table beside the window, spreading her supplies out in front of her. Selecting a few powders and a new bottle, she settled in, willing to spend the whole day in her little solace, alone.

A few hours later, she looked up, blurry-eyed from a new medicine she'd decided to try. It was supposed to be stronger, for deeper injuries, like broken bones, to make them heal faster. However, as far as she could tell, the only thing stronger about it right now was its odor. The stench made her eyes water. She sighed. Nothing she'd ever made before had ever smelled this bad. She debated throwing it out the window, then decided that then people would wonder. It'd be too much trouble. She scraped the noxious ointment into a jar, putting a cork into it. The odor lingered, and she wrinkled her nose, opening the windows a little wider.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she'd probably missed lunch. She'd gotten so lost in her work, most of the morning had quickly flown by. Debating about where to eat, she decided that ramen might be good. Her stomach agreed. Packing away her medicines in their hole in the wall, she set out for the restaurant where Naruto ate most of the time. Ramen might be good, but seeing Naruto would be better.

Passing by the Yamanaka family's flower shop, Hinata saw Ino arranging a beautiful bouquet of bright yellow flowers. With a sparkling smile, the blonde passed the flowers to a waiting customer.  
Hinata looked fixedly at the ground as she passed by. _She's so pretty… I could never compete with her. Blonde hair, beautiful… She's even a good ninja… I'm definitely not as good as she is… I wish I could be though…_ Ino tucked a large purple flower behind her ear and laughed at something her father told her. Hinata glanced up at the sound, sighed, and then sat down at the ramen bar, ordering a bowl of miso ramen. Morosely, she picked up her chopsticks and began to eat, trying to keep her mind blank.  
Nobody really cared about what happened to her. The only reason her family even seemed to care was because she was the inheritor of the Hyuuga lineage. Somehow, a small part of her told her nobody would care if she died. Well, maybe they wouldn't care, but they'd at least notice, right? "Poor Hinata," they'd all say. "I guess I kind of liked her. That's just too bad…"  
"Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei!" A familiar voice called out. Hinata's head snapped up in time to see Iruka and Naruto sit down a few seats down from her. The orange-clad genin was clinging to Iruka's back and pointing at the menu, still shouting.  
Unconsciously, Hinata raised her hands to her cheeks, feeling their warmth against her palms. Quietly, she watched the pair out of the corner of her eyes. Then, berating herself for her stupidity, she ran a little extra chakra towards her eyes and enabled the Byakugan. "Hey, hey! I'm going to go broke, Naruto," Iruka complained. Hinata giggled a little at Naruto's enthusiasm. The pair sat down on the stools, still talking and laughing.  
Naruto playfully shoved Iruka, who shoved back. They continued their game until Iruka fell off his chair, toppling over onto the ground. Hinata gasped, almost certain that Naruto was going to get it. Instead, her old teacher got up off the ground and dusted himself off, laughing so hard his face was bright red. To retaliate, he grabbed Naruto in a headlock, pulling him off his stool and into a puddle. Although their actions should have amused Hinata, they instead had the opposite effect. Just once, she wished she could have somebody in her life as close to her as Iruka was to Naruto.  
Unexpectedly, Kurenai sat down beside her. "Enjoying the sights?" Hinata's teacher asked, raising her eyebrows and looked pointedly towards Iruka and Naruto.  
Hinata's blush multiplied, and couldn't be hidden by her hands alone. With an embarrassed squeak, she pulled her sleeves up and covered her face with those.  
"Oh, stop it," Kurenai muttered, elbowing Hinata. "I'm a girl too, you know. You like Naruto…and Iruka…well…" She twitched her eyebrows twice and then winked. "He's not so bad for someone like me."  
Hinata gaped at Kurenai's unusual manner. "Kurenai-sensei?" she asked, a little worried.  
"I know, I know. I'm acting weird. But then again, so are you." Kurenai looked over at her student, waiting for her reply.  
Hinata looked down into her half-empty bowl of ramen, tapping her index fingers nervously together. She didn't reply, mind racing through possible answers. Why was Kurenai being so straightforward about Naruto? Was it the medicines hidden in her bedroom wall? Had Kurenai found out? Was it something else entirely? Was it why Kurenai was acting strange?  
Somehow, although Kurenai was much older than her, Hinata felt more comfortable around her than with Kiba and Shino. She trusted her team mates, of course, but there were only so many things she could say to them without being embarrassed. There were many things she couldn't even mention to them. Not only that, but both were so distracted. A lot of times, it seemed as if Kiba cared more for his dog than for her. The same was true for Shino, except with his bugs. It wasn't like Hinata wanted anything more out of them than friendship, and just to spend more time with them. But it seemed as if they were always busy, and Hinata ended up alone.  
Hinata's silence truly didn't surprise Kurenai. A length this long, however, was unusual. "Hinata?" she asked eventually, leaning closer to the counter to try and see her student's face. A few feet away, Iruka and Naruto continued to tussle and goof off.  
Hinata, meanwhile, struggled to hold back tears. Suddenly, it seemed as if the whole world around her was perfect, except for the part that involved her. Everything taunted her, teasing her with its joy. Her own personal little rain cloud hung over her head, sapping the happiness and life out of everything she did. No one cared. She took a long shuddering breath, holding her head in her hands. Kurenai reached over and soothingly stroked Hinata's hair. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, sitting up straighter. "I didn't mean to make you upset." Hinata only shook her head, still silent.  
"It wasn't you," she finally said, voice shaking. "I've just…just had a really bad day." She sighed deeply, finally trying to relax. Clenching her hands into fists and bringing them down from her face, it felt as if her chest was expanding for the first time in ages and that she was only beginning to breathe now. Eyes slightly red, she turned towards Kurenai.  
"How about all four of us get together later?" Kurenai suggested, trying to think of something that might make Hinata feel better.  
The young genin nodded, a little brighter at the prospect of getting together with her team without a mission to go on. Kurenai stood, obviously planning to get Kiba and Shino together. "I'll meet you in half an hour? Outside Kiba's?"  
Hinata nodded. "Yeah," she whispered. The sound of splashing and a shout rang out from across the street.  
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled in outrage. Hinata looked over to see him getting up from a mud puddle in the middle of the road, soaking wet. Iruka was laughing again, and trying to make a hasty and silent disappearance.  
Kurenai turned back to Hinata once more. "Hey," she whispered, jerking her head towards Naruto. "Go talk to him. He could be a really good friend." With another wink, Kurenai was gone.

  
  
Hinata ran most of the way to Kiba's house, stopping only when she reached the boundary of the Inuzuka property. Kiba had told her once that people running excited the dogs and caused a lot of trouble. Since then, Hinata had been very careful to walk slowly and calmly near Kiba's place.  
Pushing open the gate in the fence, she was immediately assaulted by barking dogs, in sizes ranging from ankle to almost waist-high. Most of them were dogs that were cared for by the Inuzuka's, although they weren't nin-dogs. A few of them, though, were, and Akamaru was among them. Laughing, she pushed the dogs aside, trying to struggle through the canine sea. Picking Akamaru out of the crowd, she lifted him into her arms. The tiny dog happily licked her face, tail wagging. He barked a little. At that, his owner's head shot out of one of the house windows, looking concerned. Kiba looked down, saw Hinata and smiled. In a few seconds, he was down the stairs and outside.  
"Hey Hinata," he greeted her, tucking his hood down behind his head. Tousled black hair looked as if he hadn't combed it that day, and Hinata knew he probably hadn't. He didn't really care about things like that.  
"Kiba-kun," she replied, offering Akamaru to his owner. After Kiba took his dog, she hugged him, wrapping Kiba in a loose embrace. Surprised, he barely had time to move before she let go of him. "I'm glad to see you," she continued. "We'd better hurry. I think Kurenai and Shino are already waiting." A little confused, Kiba followed her silently.  
Truly, she was glad to see him. He was someone she knew she could trust, if not fully confide in. He'd saved her life a few times during their missions, and she was grateful for that, but she regretted that she had never done the same for him. It wasn't that the opportunity didn't come up; it was just that she wasn't brave enough. Kiba took the lead and usually Shino and Hinata just followed.   
True to form, Kiba took the lead and Hinata followed him out to meet the other two members of their team. Kiba easily vaulted the fence, deciding it was easier to do so than to fight through to the gate. Hinata jumped over too, not wanting to be troublesome. As Hinata had said, the other two were waiting. "What're we doing today, teach?" Kiba called abrasively, eyes twinkling with mischief. Kurenai favored him with what she herself called 'the Kiba glare'. It was reserved especially for him.  
"We are here," Kurenai began formally. "To have fun."  
"No mission?' Shino asked quietly, pushing his glasses up on his nose.  
"No mission except to not do anything close to work."  
"Yes!" Kiba shouted, jumping in the air in glee. Akamaru barked happily and ran in circles, hopping. Kiba looked down and frowned at his canine partner. "No, you can't go home," he commanded sternly. Akamaru barked a few more times. "I don't care about your girlfriend. She can wait." A few more barks. Kiba rolled his eyes, ignoring the dog.  
"Can we play hide and seek?" Hinata asked timidly. Kurenai was usually willing to let them play that. Hide and seek, though usually a children's game, worked out quite well for this team. Their skills were all testing, both in hiding and seeking. Hinata's Byakugan, Kiba's extreme senses and partnership with Akamaru and Shino's relationship with his bugs all came into play. Their abilities only made the hiding part harder. It made them all think about where they were hiding, much more so than usual. For example, Hinata had learned that to easily hide from Kiba, she only had to duck into a particularly ripe-smelling trash barrel. Her scent was then overwhelmed by the odor of the garbage. Maybe not the best place to stay for an extended period of time, but when the price of losing was set at 500 pushups and sit-ups, it didn't matter all that much. Not only that, but Kiba began to learn his weaknesses, and how others exploited them. In time, he'd learned that the first place he should check was the trash.   
"Yeah! Search and destroy!" Kiba burst out, barely containing his enthusiasm. The others of the team all suppressed laughter. Ever since Kurenai had introduced the game, Kiba, at the least, had always been excited about it. 'Search and destroy' was only his latest name for it.  
Shino nodded his agreement, looking towards Kurenai for further instructions. She obliged them. "Target area: All of Konoha Village." She emphasized the last word. She didn't want a repeat of 'Kiba's Forest Adventure' again. "Time frame: Until 5:00 p.m. today."  
Her students dropped into ready position. "Assassin-nin…" Kurenai paused, deciding which genin to choose. Dropping into a matching crouch of her own, she finally chose. "Shino," she announced. In a split second, all four were gone. The game had begun.   
  
Hinata took off towards the hospital, the one place she knew Shino hated. Part of her said it was cheating to play off his weaknesses. Another, more ruthless part of her, said it was just the way of life.

Kurenai followed her only female student on a whim. Although she usually trained the one she'd dubbed "assassin." Her intuition told her that Hinata needed supervision. Not only that, but Shino was getting much too good at detecting his teacher's hiding places.

After resting on the roof of the hospital and watching Hinata take cover in a thick-foliaged tree, Kurenai decided to just stay where she was. Lying on her stomach, she glanced up in time to see the bright-red flare almost halfway across the village. Shino had caught Kiba; the assassin had changed.

A few hours later, the game had been expanded into the forest outside Konoha. It was almost five o'clock. Kurenai was still staying near Hinata. The genin had been the assassin four times, the jounin once. In order for the position to change hands, it all came down to chalked weapons and taijutsu fighting. If the "assassin" knocked their opponent to the ground or marked them solidly with a dull red-chalked weapon, the other person became the "assassin." If the other person won, the first person was "killed" and had to wait five minutes before moving again.

Kurenai yawned and sighed, beginning to grow tired. It had been a long day. She'd been up before 2 in the morning and still up now. It had been fun though. Draping herself over a tree branch, the jounin began to doze off, blearily blinking at her student below.

Hinata watched as her teacher fell asleep, odd red eyes finally closing in a light nap. The genin drew her legs up to her chest, wondering why Kurenai had been acting so strange today. The jounin had been very…protective. Usually Kurenai was calm and collected, completely unlike the person Hinata had seen at the ramen place.

Sighing, she looked up at the sky, trying to see through the thick trees. A patch of black caught her eye, darker than the rest. Looking closer, Hinata saw it was a cat…no, a kitten, stuck in the branches. It wasn't moving. She climbed silently and slowly towards it, hoping it was still alive. As she got closer, she was rewarded with a pitiful meow and a struggle to get free.

Concentrating on the small animal, Hinata carefully worked its shattered leg free from the branches. "I don't know how you got here, baby, but you sure are hurting," she whispered, cradling the tiny black kitten against her body. Quietly, Hinata made an improvised split from a stiff twig, tying it gently onto the cat's leg. The game wouldn't be over until nine o'clock tonight, and she couldn't take time out to make a real splint right now. He only meowed once in pain, but didn't try to bite or scratch her at all. In fact, when she was done, the kitten gingerly climbed up her shirt and nuzzled her face, purring.

Hinata giggled as its whiskers tickled her skin. Abruptly struck with an idea, she picked up the fluffy black cat, checking its gender. "You're a little boy, huh?" she asked him, scratching him obligingly under the chin. After a while, the realization that she should pay attention in order not to get caught by the others occurred to her. Glancing across the clearing, she was that Kurenai was still asleep.

This little kitten though…If it had an owner, it wouldn't have been left hanging in a tree. That meant she could keep him, right? Her heart twisted as she thought of giving the black cat up, surprising her. She'd barely found him. He was only a tiny kitten. He didn't even have a name. Deciding she'd give him one later, she tucked the cat gently inside her sweatshirt. He automatically climbed up her front and poked his head out underneath her's, like Akamaru and Kiba did all the time. Hinata laughed as he began to purr again.

Distracted, Hinata barely noticed when a dark figure dropped out of the trees behind her. Attributing the slight noise to the forest, she didn't even turn. The cat's purr changed to a growl. Finally, Hinata turned and glanced over her shoulder. The flash of kunai caught her eye, and she ducked suddenly. Those weren't blunted weapons. The glint was all too real. Her unseen opponent cursed, but she was unable to target him by the sound. A shape barely identifiable as a person in the weakening light shot out of the trees behind her. Not able to turn in time, the attacker's kunai bit into the backs of Hinata's arms as she fell forward, barely missing her back.

Overwhelmed with sudden pain, she was unable to land correctly, instead landing heavily on her side. Her head slammed against the ground and mist briefly passed over her vision. Struggling to stay conscious through her pain, Hinata could feel the warmth of blood running down her arms. One arm seemed to bleed more than the other. Slowly, she rolled over to put pressure on the heavily bleeding arm, trying to staunch it. The kitten nuzzled her, meowing with what sounded like concern.

"Byakugan," Hinata whispered, forcing chakra towards her eyes. The dizzying effect of 360º vision kicked in and she saw her opponent above her. He may have caught her off-guard, but he wouldn't catch her again. From the feel of it, her left arm, the one bleeding more, had been struck more solidly than her right. Testing her arms and grip, she found her left was almost completely immobile, while her other was stiff, but workable. Getting slowly to her feet, Hinata finally pushed herself off the ground and up into the trees.

Kurenai woke instantly at the sound of body hitting body, cursing herself for ever falling asleep. The thick sound of flesh hitting the ground was next. Peering cautiously out of her tree, she saw that Hinata was the one on the ground, but the spreading stain on her shirt definitely wasn't normal for their game. She feared the worst, until Hinata slowly rose to her feet, and then painfully pushed off into the trees. Kurenai could tell by her student's slight weaving and listing towards one side that the girl had the Byakugan's 360º vision enabled. Either that or she was in extreme pain.

Forcing herself to remain where she was, the jounin only watched the battle below. Hinata had proved herself before. She could easily take this opponent down. If she couldn't, Kurenai would always be on guard.

Breathing heavily, Hinata leaned against the trunk of a tree, Byakugan searching for the attacker. An assassin? Why would anyone want to kill _her_? The cat wriggled in her arms and she stroked him absently, trying to get him to calm down. Left arm still immobile, she used her right to draw a pair of kunai from their pouch. The dark form of the mysterious attacker dropped out of the trees once again, giving her an opening. Firing both kunai, she immediately moved to a different position, keeping herself hidden. Surprisingly, both kunai hit, striking him in the back and thigh. Suddenly, the man vanished in a blur, reappearing behind her. Turning with a shout, Hinata dropped automatically into the Hyuuga fighting stance. Assassin already upon her, she laid a palm flat against his stomach. The impact jarred both arms. Wincing in pain again, she watched him leap away once more. She didn't know what the power of the Gentle Fist had done, but she suspected it wasn't much. He was much faster than her, and he definitely had more stamina.

Carefully watching behind her, Hinata turned in time to intercept his next assault. He practically crushed her under his weight, smashing her down into the thick branch she rested on. Instinctively shoving him off of her, Hinata added the Gentle Fist. Blood began to dribble from the assassin's mouth, warmth dripping onto Hinata's face. She barely avoided his next kunai, the blade brushing a trail of blood across her cheek. He finally rolled off of her, groaning in pain from his internal bleeding. In the split second before he vanished again, Hinata lunged for him, grabbing him by the ankle. Shoving her injured arm into action, she stabbed a kunai into his foot, cutting tendons and touching bone. Disabled and injured, the assassin wouldn't be able to escape. Even dead spies held information, but Hinata didn't think she'd be able to handle his body, even if he was unconscious.

Kurenai solved her problem for her, firing two kunai from the trees above. Both hit dead-center in the man's chest, both weapons touching. Jumping from above, Kurenai landed in a three-point stance in the trees near the pair. Two fingers reached for the man's neck. No pulse; he was dead.

"Hinata?" she began, turning toward her student. Blood covered her clothing, and there was a distinct waver to her movements. With a slight moan, Hinata pitched forward, landing heavily. Worriedly, Kurenai approached her, kneeling by her side. A tiny black cat struggled out of Hinata's sweatshirt, taking a protective stance on Hinata's back, hissing and spitting. "I'm a good guy," Kurenai whispered soothingly. Gently touching Hinata's neck, she felt a faint, but even pulse.

"Kakashi, come out of there," Kurenai finally said, looking up at the trees. The more experienced jounin appeared suddenly, nodding his head towards Kurenai.

"You're very skilled," he complimented her. "Or I'm losing my touch."

"You weren't trying that hard," she snapped in reply. Tone softening, she continued, "Thanks for coming with. I really thought something funny was going on."

"You and your _feelings_," Kakashi scoffed, kneeling to inspect the assassin's body.

"Its woman's intuition," she shot back. Gathering Hinata carefully into her arms, she stood. "She'll be staying at my place tonight."

"She'll be safer there," Kakashi answered, holding up a small medallion. "Hyuuga crest. This guy's official." Tucking it into Hinata's hand, he saluted towards Kurenai. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Kurenai nodded. "We need to have a meeting." In a blur, Kakashi was gone, vanishing into the trees, taking the body of the assassin with him. Turning towards the village, Kurenai began her own journey back.

Climbing slowly up the stairs of the jounin's apartment building, Kurenai began to make a plan for the unconscious girl in her arms. The Hyuugas were a strange clan, and also very dangerous. Her own father would disown Hinata immediately if he could. Tomorrow, after her meeting with Kakashi, she'd talk to Tsunade, and if it all worked out, the Hyuuga's after. Silently opening the apartment door, she slipped inside. Laying Hinata on the bed, Kurenai carefully and slowly bandaged her student's wounds. Finally tucking Hinata into bed, Kurenai headed out to her own new make-shift bed, laying a sheet over the couch and settling in for the night. Although she was tired, thoughts flowed through her head so fast that it was impossible to sleep.

**If you liked it, review it. If you didn't, review it. Tell me why! kthx, bye.**


	2. Complications

**Welcome, welcome to another wonderful chapter. This one's mostly dialogue, and should explain things a little more. As a side note, I am exploring this from ONLY the manga point of view. I have not seen the anime…yet… cackles Any case, I don't know where EXACTLY in the time-frame this is happening, but at a later date, it will involve Neji, I'm sure of it. And yes, you people, Hinata will be paired with someone. I just haven't quite decided yet. (I have 2 pairings I kind of like. Hina x Gaara though? Eck.) Any case, read, review, and enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: Hinata, and all the other Naruto characters, as well as the whole Naruto-verse belong to Masashi Kishimoto...not me.**

**Chapter 2: Complications**

Slices of sunlight broke through the morning clouds, cutting directly through Kurenai's sleep. Rolling a little stiffly off the couch, she stood and stretched, reaching for the ceiling. She wandered absently into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, watching it with bleary eyes as it slowly began to fill. While she was waiting, she took the opportunity to change her clothes and check on Hinata. Peeking into her bedroom, she smiled at the sight of her sleeping student. The tiny black cat was curled up beside her on the pillow, sleeping. Silently, she shut the door and went out to get herself a cup of coffee.

Sucking down a cup of the hot, black liquid, she strolled to the door and opened it, surprising Iruka. The chuunin had his hand halfway to the door, but sheepishly lowered it when he saw the female jounin in the doorway. "Good morning, Kurenai," he muttered, blushing a bright red.

"Heard about the meeting, did you?" she replied, ushering him in. "I swear, if it has _anything _to do with one of your former students, you _always_ hear about it. You want a cup of coffee?"

Gladly accepting the mug she offered him, the teacher added a little sugar to the coffee before taking an appreciative sip. "Kakashi should be coming in a few minutes. You know how he's always late."

Rolling her eyes, Kurenai nodded, taking a seat on an old, overstuffed chair. Absently, she picked at the fraying red upholstery on the arm of the chair. "Take a seat. We'll be here for a while." Nodding, Iruka nervously took a seat across from her, sitting cautiously on the edge of the chair.

Hinata woke at the sound of conversation from outside her room. Staring at the ceiling, she tried to remember where she was. Beside her, she could hear the purr of the tiny cat next to her head. Beginning to sit up, she grimaced in pain at the stiffness in her arms. Moving carefully, she examined herself, noting the expertly applied bandages and wraps. This must be Kurenai's house, her bedroom, even. These thoughts were confirmed by an arrangement of photographs arranged on the wall. Kurenai had never told them a lot about herself, or even much about her own training. The top photo was Kurenai, wearing her flak jacket. _She looks so happy,_ Hinata thought. _She must have just passed the exam. _The next picture below that was Kurenai, Kakashi and Asuma. Kakashi was holding the other two apart, uneasy smile hidden beneath his mask. Both Asuma and Kurenai looked disgruntled, perhaps finishing up another of their big debates. Hinata smiled, knowing full-well Kurenai's short temper. The final picture on the wall was Kurenai with her three students. Shino stood to the side, one hand pushing up his glasses. Kiba was in the middle, huge grin on his face, Akamaru on his head like always. Hinata herself stood off to the opposite side, twisting her fingers together nervously. She hated having her picture taken. Kurenai stood behind the three, smile on her own face.

Hinata smiled at the memory, and then slowly got out of the bed, slowly and cautiously pulling her sweatshirt on over her bandaged arms. The black kitten still sat on the bed, tail wrapped delicately around small paws. His green eyes stared unblinkingly at her, demanding he be picked up. Smiling, she picked him up, tucking him under one arm. He mewed and struggled free, using his claws to climb to a position on her shoulder and then rubbing against the side of her face.

Hinata began to run through possible names for the kitten, rapidly discarding many of them as unsuitable. Finally, she settled on one. "Yasuo," she announced, glancing at the cat out of the corner of her eye. "It means 'peaceful one.' You like?" In response, he began to purr. "I'm glad you approve."

Hinata made her way to the door, and was just turning the handle when she heard the voices again from outside her room. The sound of the door opening and shutting, and then more talk. Focusing her chakra once more, she expanded her vision past the wall to what was apparently Kurenai's living room. Iruka and Kurenai were already seated, and Kakashi had just entered, and was finding his own chair. Now that she could see the speakers, the voices became much easier to interpret.

"You're late, Kakashi," Kurenai muttered, glaring at Kakashi.

"I got lost," the older ninja replied, sitting down.

"You live practically next door."

Kakashi did not reply, choosing instead to examine the ceiling carefully. At last, he looked back down. "All right. Let's get down to business," he announced. "Where is she?"

"She's asleep. You saw her last night; it'll take her a while to recover from that," Kurenai responded.

"True. So what's the plan then?"

"It's simple. She has to go to her home," Iruka cut in briskly, crossing his arms.

"We _can't_ let her go home. You _know _that," Kurenai snapped bad-naturedly, glaring at Iruka.

"Very well, but she's not like a stray animal you pick up off the street and take home with you. She's underage, and by law, belongs with her rightful parents until they are proven incompetent," Iruka explained calmly. "I only want the best for Hinata, like all the rest of my students, but we cannot break the law to do it."

"Even if it breaks her apart? I don't intend to leave her with her 'rightful' family, Iruka!" Kurenai snarled, rising to her feet. "You're not even her teacher anymore. You're not in any place to make the decisions here."

"I know who she is. She's been my student for years. There _is_ a reason why I'm sitting here talking to you, you know," Iruka responded, raising his hands in a calming gesture. "But how can you prove her current lifestyle is doing her harm? I hate to play devil's advocate, but we need to have proof before we can change anything."

"They tried to _kill _her, Iruka!" Kurenai shouted, outraged. "They're sending assassins after their own _daughter_! If that's not proof of their intent to harm her, what is?"

"What's their reasoning?" Kakashi calmly interjected, making an attempt at soothing the situation. He gestured Kurenai back towards her chair, and she grudgingly took a seat, crossing her arms in a pout. "Why do they want to kill her?" Kakashi continued, glancing back and forth between the other two ninja.

"I don't _know_," Kurenai answered, rolling her eyes and resting her head exasperatedly against the back of her crimson chair. "From what I've seen the Hyuugas are absolutely _insane_. Ever since that girl Hanabi was born, they just don't give a _shit _about Hinata." She sighed and buried her face in her hands. "You know how insecure and unconfident she is. That's because of her own family. Every day she spends with them does more and more damage to her. I'm afraid that in the end, she's just going to crack."

"They don't think she's strong enough to inherit the name," Kakashi interjected. "Her fight with Neji only proves that to them. Hinata is strong standing alone, but compared to Neji's immense strength, she just can't match up."

"They are sparing her that, at least," Iruka added. "If they wanted, they could just disinherit Hinata, and make Hanabi the rightful heir. They're at least sparing her a bit of emotional pain."

"By trying to kill her? They're only trying to cover their own asses while they get rid of Hinata. If they disinherited her straight off, they'd look bad, and they don't want that," Kurenai growled, lip curling in a sneer. "They know perfectly well they're the strongest clan in the village, and they want to keep it that way."

"It is possible that their concerns are well-founded," Iruka told the others, closing his eyes as he worked things out in his head. "The Main House is supposed to control the Branch House. If the Branch House is stronger…" He trailed off suggestively.

"Maybe so, but a lot of the duty of making her strong should have fallen to her family. They failed her there, Iruka," Kurenai snapped back.

"They really did try," Iruka told her, shifting his weight in his chair uncomfortably. "It was just when Hanabi began to show a different sort of personality when it became a problem. Frankly, I worry about Hanabi. That girl is vicious, and doesn't care who she hurts on her way to the top. Rather like our Sasuke." He paused, trying to put his thoughts into words. "Hanabi is the total opposite of Hinata, personality-wise. Unfortunately, the Hyuuga's like Hanabi's driven attitude much more. Their desire for strength and power does not suit Hinata well, but they demand it of her."

"_That _only makes it worse. Hanabi's only seven. Five years younger than Hinata, but that much stronger," Kurenai stated. "Hinata's caught in a vicious cycle. Her own family doesn't believe in her, so she doesn't believe in herself. Then because she doesn't think she's strong, she grows afraid. And because she's afraid, she thinks she's weak, so the whole cycle continues again."

"Good point, yes. Now that we've practically beat this topic to death with a stick, what are we going to do about it?" Iruka asked, tapping his fingers impatiently against his leg. "I have a class to get to, and I'd like to resolve this first."

"Speaking of death, that is one of her greatest fears," Kurenai said quietly, staring up at the ceiling. "That's why I'm more worried than I normally would be."

"I noticed," Iruka commented dryly.

She glared at him before continuing. "Anyways," she continued with firm resolve, "that's why I'm a…afraid." The ninja had trouble getting the word out. "I already said I thought she was getting close to cracking. I'm afraid this may be the final step to put her over the edge."

"We can't not inform her about what's going on," Iruka protested, leaning forward in his chair. "We have to tell her."

"But if we tell her, do we put her in more danger?"

"No. Even if she knew, she wouldn't do anything about it. It would only make her more cautious, I think."

"Yeah, but what's the best plan for _now_?" Kurenai asked, eyes boring into Kakashi and Iruka. "I vote we get her out of the village, at least for a while. We can tell her immediately, and then remove her from the village on a mission right away. That should give her a chance to recuperate from that information and perhaps protect her from assassins."

"That may be the best course of action in your mind, but we're still taking her away from her parents," Kakashi brought up.

"Nope," Kurenai shook her head, grinning smugly. "We have a legitimate reason if we go on a mission."

"With your team?"

"Actually, I was thinking more of with Ino and Sakura," Kurenai answered slowly, nodding towards Kakashi. "I'd need to borrow Sakura, but it's for a good cause."

"We're not going on any missions soon, at least not ones that require three people," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "Sasuke and Naruto can train instead. How long are you expecting to be gone?"

"Well, I need to get approval from Tsunade-sama first, but I'm expecting to go to Cloud Village to gather information. The dignitaries from there have been remarkably quiet lately, I've heard."

"You won't be the only team going, I assume."

"Of course. There are the permanent teams assigned there, and a few extra since the latest attack," she answered.

"I approve, but you'll have to talk to Asuma and Tsunade," Kakashi replied, nodding his head.

"Good, then we're settled," Iruka said, getting up and stretching. "I have to go. You can probably meet with Tsunade later this afternoon though, if you get there right after lunch." Silently, he walked out of the door, shutting it quietly behind him.

"He's right," Kakashi continued. "However, Tsunade does tend to take long lunches, so you probably don't need to be at her office until three or later." He stood and walked to the door. "I take it you'll talk to Hinata. Do you want me to talk to Sakura?"

Kurenai nodded. "Yes, please." She stood herself and opened the door for him.

"You might want to do some damage control. I have a feeling we were being watched," he told her, gesturing to the bedroom door. Kurenai looked over at the door, eyes widening. When she looked back, Kakashi was gone.

In the bedroom, Hinata turned her back to the wall, leaning against it miserably. It _was_ her own family trying to kill her. Looking over to the bed, she noted the yellow and red Hyuuga crest lying on the white pillow. It was all too obvious. It wasn't even the Branch House trying to kill her, it was the Main. She was truly unwanted. Of course, it only confirmed what she'd known along. Somehow, some small part of her hadn't believed it. She had truly believed her father had loved her. Believed she was part of the family. Believed she was loved at all. Now even that small dream was shattered, crushed beneath the weight of the high aspirations of an already high-ranked clan.

Her eyes began to sting as she suppressed tears. Her depressed thoughts from yesterday were true. In one instant, her whole life had changed. Yasuo meowed on her shoulder, his purring slowly quieting. Beside her, the door opened, and Kurenai stepped in. The older ninja knelt on the floor, gathering Hinata in her arms. The jounin had already thought out what had happened. All she could do now was comfort her student.

Being a ninja was a hard life, and it seemed sometimes like not everybody knew it. A life surrounded by death, blood and fear. A life of imagination and simple illusions. A life of crushed hopes and shattered dreams. Whether the death was one of your closest friends, or one you had caused yourself, it was a constant companion. Fear was another common emotion. Every ninja traveled with these as a constant shadow in the back of their mind. It was only the strong who survived these feelings, and learned how to deal with these. Sometimes, Kurenai felt that that was the whole purpose of the genin level. Even Kurenai, at the jounin level, had not gotten over her own fear of death. You needed people to depend on, and Hinata had just lost more from an already thin pool of supports. A fragile tower only needed the loss of one supporting bar to tumble to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Kurenai whispered, loosening her grip. "There's nothing I can do."

"I know," Hinata replied sadly, looking steadily down at her hands. "I don't what there is to be done."

"You heard. We don't need to have an answer yet," Kurenai reassured her. Yasuo yowled demandingly, bumping his head against Kurenai's leg. "I bet you're hungry, little guy," she said softly to him, picking him up and handing him to Hinata. "Look, how about we eat now, and figure something out later?"

Wordlessly, Hinata nodded and began to stand, holding Yasuo tightly in her arms. Slowly, she followed Kurenai to the kitchen and sat down at the table, setting the cat in the chair next to her. He poked his head up above the side of the table, and then rested his chin and paws on the red plastic of the tabletop. Kurenai rummaged through the cupboards, making various noises of disgust at the severe lack of food. "I don't have much here for food, I'm afraid," she told Hinata, plunking a box of cereal down on the laminate tabletop.

She turned and pulled bowls out, pouring cereal into each of them. Opening the fridge, she frowned as she opened the milk carton. Waving it under her nose, she winced and her eyelid twitched. "Dry cereal okay with you?" she finally asked Hinata brightly. The genin nodded and accepted the spoon Kurenai offered her. Silently, she began to eat. Yasuo meowed again, ears erect, voice demanding.

Kurenai returned to the cupboards, searching for something usable as cat food. At last, she emerged with a can of tuna, opened it and dumped it on a plate, setting it in front of the cat. Yasuo meowed and happily began eating, burying his face in the fish.

"So…what do you think?" Kurenai asked after a long silence, broken only by the cat's happy grunts of contentment and the crunch of cereal.

"Of my…situation?" Hinata replied quietly, looking up through her bangs at her teacher. "I...don't know."

Kurenai stood up and dumped her utensils in the sink, absently running some water of them. "Hinata," she began, and then stopped, turning to the sink while she gathered her thoughts. She turned and took the chair next to Hinata, across from the kitten. "You have to have known this was going to happen. If you think about it, it's been like this your entire life."

"Yes," Hinata murmured, looking down at the ground. Her eyes burned, holding back tears. "I just never wanted to believe it." The tears came, unable to be stopped. Before she knew it, her shoulders were shaking as she began to sob.

With a sigh, Kurenai shifted her chair next to Hinata's and embraced her again. Yasuo meowed, and jumped into Hinata's lap, looking up at her with wide, concerned eyes. The trio sat like that for a few minutes before Kurenai broke the silence. "People love you, Hinata. They're just not bound by blood. But the bonds created by love are sometimes stronger than the ones born of a family," she said softly. Hinata took a shuddering sigh and began to pull away from Kurenai's grasp.

When she felt the grip loosening, her stomach rolled inside of her and she stopped. She didn't want to move. Nobody had hugged her, truly hugged her, since she was very small. In fact, she could barely remember it. Somehow, it just made the whole bond stronger when they were connected by blood also, but the way everything had turned out, she supposed love would have to be enough.

Both of them jumped when someone pounded heavily on the door. Hinata jerked up out of her chair, quickly wiping her eyes with her sleeves. Kurenai crossed to the door and peeked through the view hole. She opened the door to admit Kiba and Akamaru, the boy grinning widely, the dog barking insanely. "Good morning, Kiba," she greeted him. "What're you doing today?"

"Just screwing around," he replied. "What happened yesterday? You and Hinata just disappeared."

"We had some difficulties," Kurenai answered slowly, unsure of how much to tell him.

"Difficulties?" He frowned. "Everyone's okay, right?"

"Yes, of course," Kurenai reassured him.

"Well, what happened?" Kurenai paused, trying to come up with something to cover Hinata's story with. Akamaru came back from his explorations of the apartment, happily yipping at Kiba's ankles. Distracted, Kiba ignored his previous question. "Where's Hinata?" he asked sharply, gaze hardening. Kurenai stepped back, a little surprised at Kiba's sudden intensity.

"She's eating," the jounin explained, casually placing her body between Kiba and the kitchen where Hinata still sat.

"Why's she here?" He asked, brow creasing in a frown.

"I told you. Difficulties." Kurenai knew that this delaying tactic wouldn't last long, especially against Kiba's abrasive tendencies.

In the kitchen, Hinata listened to the conversation, taking deep breaths to calm herself from her recent crying. Finally, she stood and walked out to peek around Kurenai at Kiba. "Good morning, Kiba-kun," she said quietly, looking down at her shoes.

"Hinata!" he exclaimed, surprised that she had appeared. "What's going on?"

"N-nothing," she stammered, finding it hard to lie to her teammate.

"Uh _huh_," Kiba replied archly, raising his eyebrows. "Sure. Well, I know the way you _girls _work," he said with blatant disdain. "If you don't want to tell me something, I'm not going to find out what it is, no matter how much I bug you." He sighed dramatically. "It's just not gonna happen." He turned back to the door, leaned down and picked Akamaru up, tucking the dog into his jacket. "Well, I'll see you guys later." He heaved a tremendous, dramatic sigh. "_Girls," _he groaned. "Whatever."

"Actually, Kiba," Kurenai called out after him. "I was going to say that we're leaving soon."

"Really?" He turned around, eyes bright and excited.

Grimacing, Kurenai burst his bubble. "Sorry, Kiba. Just Hinata and me."

He groaned, slumping. "Ugh!" he grunted, gently kicking the door frame. "You mean I don't get to have any fun?"

"No. It's absolutely forbidden," Kurenai said sternly. "Tell Shino for me, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, slouching off down the hallway. He continued muttering all the way down the stairs. Closing the door behind him, Kurenai turned to Hinata.

"If Kiba's out of bed, you know what that means, right?"

"It's after noon?" Hinata asked tentatively.

Kurenai laughed. "Yeah, it's after noon. Not only that, but I'm about to be late for a very important meeting. Want to come with?"

"Umm…yes," Hinata finally said. "I'm kind of…afraid to be alone."

"All right then, we better get going," Kurenai announced. For the sake of appearances, she ran to the closet in her bedroom and dug through it, finally pulling out her flak jacket and slipping it on. "You ready?"

Hinata nodded her assent, and walked out the door, followed closely by her teacher. Kurenai didn't bother to lock the door. In order to prevent break-ins in a world populated by ninjas, you'd have to have a lot better locks than were currently invented. With that, the two headed off for Tsunade's office, preparing to make the changes to create a better life.

**NOTE: Forgot to put this in earlier. I know that Hinata was kidnapped when she was 3, but I figure at age 3, she wouldn't remember much of it, and if she did, it would be mostly a blur. In any case, a mission is a mission. It can't really be refused.**

**If you liked it, review it. If you didn't, review it. Tell me why! Kthx, bye.******


	3. Out of Ashes

**I finished! This is surprisingly early. Considering how 'fast' I usually work, I'm amazed at myself. Chaaaapter 3! (Planned to be about chapter 6, but amazing how things work sometimes) I currently have about 15 chapters planned, but it'll almost certainly thin out… I haven't actually seen the anime version of Hinata's whole story, so this may be a little OOC. I have read the manga, but there's a lot in the anime that I just don't know about. Hiashi and Hanabi make appearances in this chapter, so if they're OOC, forgive me. They are my personal views on these characters based on given knowledge and appearance. Thanks for reading!**

**Note: I HATE FORMATTING. I don't know how this thing works, so I'm just going to leave it the way it is. It's passable, readable, and if I try to fix it, I'll just screw it up more.**

**Disclaimer: Hinata, and all the other Naruto characters, as well as the whole Naruto-verse belong to Masashi Kishimoto...not me.**

**Chapter 3: Out of Ashes**

Hinata and Kurenai arrived at Tsunade's office building just in time to meet up with Iruka. He greeted them quietly, eyes resting only for a moment on Hinata, and then raising his eyebrows towards Kurenai. She shrugged almost imperceptibly and continued into the building. The three walked to the desk in silence.

"We need to see Hokage-sama," Kurenai said firmly, placing both hands flat on the wood.

"I'm sorry, she's not back from lunch yet," the secretary behind the desk replied. "She should be back…" He trailed off as the door opened, and the Godaime Hokage entered, busily tying her hair back and to all appearances, preparing for a hard afternoon of work.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka began. She cut him off with a slice of her hand.

"Iruka," she sighed. "Do I really have to say anything?" She glanced around him and down at Hinata. "And the Hyuugas, no less."

"This is serious, Hokage-sama," he continued instead. "We need to speak to you."

"I don't have time for your imagined conflicts, Iruka. Your students are perfectly fine without your interference," she snapped back, slamming her office door open. "The entire village suffers because you are wasting my time."

Iruka was speechless for a moment. Luckily, Kurenai stepped in with her own response. "Hokage-sama, once you hear what our concern is, I don't believe you'll think we're wasting your time anymore."

Tsunade paused as she realized that Kurenai was there also. "You have five minutes," she grudgingly answered, beckoning them into her office. "I have a meeting, so let's get to it."

"It's the Hyuugas," Iruka started quickly, taking a seat on a wooden chair. He sat nervously on the edge of it, hands clasped formally in front of him. "They're having some problems with their…" He trailed off, searching for the right word. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, clearly running out of patience.

"They want to kill Hinata," Kurenai cut in bluntly. "They've already sent one assassin after her, and they're probably going to send more. We need to do something."

In her position standing by the door, Hinata sucked in a quick breath and uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot. Kurenai never had had an outstanding sense of tact, but sometimes directness helped. Unfortunately, it looked as if tact would have been the correct choice in this direction. The expression on Kurenai's face showed that she also realized that.

Tsunade's face had closed up, her brown eyes hardening into stone. Her lips were set in a thin line as she glared from Kurenai to Iruka and back, steadily avoiding looking at Hinata. "I do not wish to discuss this," she said icily, folding her hands in front of her and resting them on her desk. "The Hyuugas…"

"We have to help her!" Iruka interrupted, jumping up from his chair, hands balled into fists. Tsunade slowly shifted her stare to him, mouth curling into a sneer.

"I dislike meddling in the affairs of the Houses," she said crisply, the pressure of her eyes forcing the chuunin back down into his chair.

"You take part in the conflict between the Uchihas! How is this _any _different?!" Iruka replied heatedly, voice full of fire, rocking forward in his chair once more.

"It is much more different than you can imagine," Tsunade replied, answering Iruka's heat with her own cold. "Both Sasuke and Itachi are dangers to the village."

"How do you know that the Hyuuga fights won't be a danger? They threaten the life of one of our own!"

Kurenai shifted in her chair and crossed her legs, watching the proceedings with interest. Somehow, she sensed that Iruka had things under control, although it certainly didn't appear so. She glanced over at Hinata, noticing she had sidled over on the wall to sit on a small stool in the corner. The tiny black cat sat in her lap. Puzzled, Kurenai wondered how she hadn't noticed the cat when they'd left. She shrugged and turned back to the conversation in time to catch Tsunade's returning comment.

"The Hyuugas are the most powerful House in our village," Tsunade told Iruka, steadily and firmly informing him that she had almost reached her tolerance level, and that the argument was over. "They can handle their own problems, and they'll need no help from either you _or_ anybody else."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Kurenai finally had some input. "We can't just leave her _in _this situation."

"What are _your _plans?" Tsunade asked, turning her attention to the other female ninja.

"I want to get her out of the village, first of all," Kurenai began. Tsunade stopped her and pulled a dossier out of the drawer in front of her.

"Try this, then," Tsunade told her, pushing the folder towards Kurenai. "I've been waiting for someone to take the thing."

Kurenai skimmed the mission profile, looked up at Tsunade, and then grinned. "You must read minds, Hokage-sama. This is actually the exact mission I wanted." The Hokage's face twisted for a moment before Kurenai explained. "You've been hinting at it long enough, I still figured that nobody had taken it, and therefore, that it'd be open for me to put together a team to take it."

"That takes care of that, then," Iruka interrupted. "But you can't stay on a mission forever."

"Just as long as possible," Kurenai muttered.

"We can't have that, Kurenai," Tsunade cut in. "We need all available shinobi back as soon as possible from every mission. We're running low as it is. We had too many deaths in the attack."

"Okay then." Kurenai stalled for a moment. "Then what do we do when we get back?"

"I can work on some sort of plan, maybe," Tsunade said slowly, twisting her hands together nervously.

"And I can work with Hinata while we're gone," Kurenai continued, glancing quickly behind her at her student.

"The Hyuugas will need some convincing," Iruka added. "They won't take kindly to any solution we can come up with, but _their _solution is completely unacceptable."

"Then we'll have to come to a compromise," Tsunade finished. "That's our only option now. Kurenai, you go meet with the Hyuugas. Iruka, stay out of it for now." Iruka grimly noticed the firm emphasis on the last six words. Behind them, someone knocked on the door.

The secretary poked his head in. "Hokage-sama, your next meeting is ready in the conference room," he said quickly and quietly before he disappeared. Tsunade nodded and stood up. "I have to go. I take it you can show yourselves out." She collected a stack of folders and piled some other papers on top, precariously balancing her coffee cup on top of that. Slowly, she staggered out of her office, unable to see over the top of her supplies. "See me when you get back, Kurenai," she grunted as a farewell. Silently, the remaining three got up and left the room. Iruka left for his classroom, bidding the other two a quiet goodbye.

"Do you want to go directly to your house, Hinata?" Kurenai asked. "You can get some of your clothes and your stuff, and we can tell your father what's going on." When Hinata did not respond, Kurenai stopped and turned to look at her student. "You don't have to go with me if you don't want to, but I, at least, have to go."

Hinata only mumbled something in reply, continuing to walk while staring at her feet. Yasuo wriggled in her arms, meowing impatiently. Finally, she let him go, knowing that he would follow her on his own.

"Hinata?"

"I want to go with," Hinata spoke up firmly. "They need to understand that I don't want to be there anymore."

"That's very wise of you, Hinata," Kurenai replied, beginning to walk once more. The pair completed their trip in silence. Hinata did not look up once.

When they arrived at Hinata's home, Hinata finally looked up apprehensively, face completely blank. Kurenai watched her out of the corner of her eye, noticing with interest that only once did Hinata's mouth turn down into a frown. Finally, it hardened into resolve and Hinata led the way into her home. Once they were inside the door, Hiashi was already waiting for them. The long hallway was dark, lit only by a few single skylights from above. "What do you want?" he demanded sharply of Kurenai. "I have told you before that I don't wish you to meddle in our lives."

"I'm not meddling. I only mean the best for you and your daughter," Kurenai responded, keeping her voice level with effort.

"Do you think I don't promote my own child's welfare?" Hiashi asked, lip curling in annoyance. "I know what she needs, and I can assure you, Hinata is doing perfectly…"

"No, you don't know!" Kurenai burst out. "You're mistreating your daughter, and abusing her!" She stomped her foot angrily. At her sides, her fingernails began to make dents in the skin of her palms.

"I do not abuse my daughter," Hiashi answered icily, rising to his full height. "Hinata, go to your room."

"Pack your things," Kurenai called after her.

Quietly, Hinata exited the tense situation and entered her own bedroom. To her surprise, Hanabi sat at the low table beside the window, studiously working on an academy assignment. "Hanabi?" Hinata asked quietly. "What are you doing in my room?"

The younger girl whipped around, eyes hardening as she saw her older sister. "I think the real question is what are _you _doing here? Father said you'd left," she sneered in response.

"I am leaving," Hinata answered, beginning to collect the few things she wanted.

"That's good. We're better off," Hanabi replied flippantly, returning to her assignment.

"Why is that?" Hinata asked calmly, jaw clenching in repressed anger and sorrow.

"Because Father is going to make your room into another practice area for me," Hanabi informed Hinata quietly, the emphasis on the first word making her reverence of her father clear. "He's already told me that he'll be glad if you leave."

"He didn't seem like that when he talked to Kurenai and me a few seconds ago."

"You know how he is. He changes his image depending on who he's talking to."

"Yes, he does," Hinata replied, gathering the last of her things. Finally, she began to move the cabinet to get at her medicines in the wall.

"What are you _doing_?" Hanabi scoffed. "Father certainly won't let you take the furniture with."

Wordlessly, Hinata removed her chest full of medicines from their place inside the wall. "What _is _that?" Hanabi asked, rising from the floor to investigate. With the curiosity only a seven-year-old possesses, she reached out and flipped the silver latches. Before Hinata could push her away, the younger girl had opened the box and gazed in disdain at its contents. "Medicines?" she asked, her mouth curving in a sneer Hinata last remembered seeing on the face of her father.

"Yes, medicines," Hinata answered, slamming the chest with a hard clack. She fastened the latches and closed her bags, slinging one over her shoulder.

"Knowing you, you're probably really bad at that too," Hanabi snarled, turning back to her work.

"Why would you say that?" Hinata asked, an audible edge to her voice. Her gaze narrowed as her smaller, younger sibling turned back to look at her.

Hanabi turned up her nose as she stared back at her older sister. "Everybody in the village knows. You're not good at anything, especially being a ninja and all that other…"

Before Hinata realized it, her hand connected solidly with Hanabi's face. "Don't say that," she growled darkly. Hanabi raised both hands to her cheek, stunned that her own sister had attacked her like that. Hanabi's gaze shifted to one of betrayal and hurt, and Hinata's stomach suddenly turned. Why had she done that? What had she been thinking?

"You're just a bitch, Hinata," Hanabi snarled. Hinata's eyes widened at the younger child's callous words. She'd never heard her use any words like that before, ever. "A good-for-nothing, stupid, dumb _bitch_!" Angrily, Hanabi stepped towards her sister, rage evident on her young face.

Suppressing tears, Hinata quickly snatched up her bags, awkwardly gathered her medicine chest and raced out of the room, breath coming fast in panic. In the hallway outside the main entrance, she stopped as she heard raised voices. Kurenai and her father were still arguing. Prominently, she entered the room.

Abruptly, both adults stopped their argument, both looking over at her. Kurenai was the first to speak. "Hinata, are you ready to go?" she asked, crossing the room to assist the younger girl with her luggage.

"She is not ready to go. I've told you this already, Kurenai," Hiashi snapped. "She is staying here. This is where she belongs."

"It doesn't matter if you treat her like she's not wanted!" Kurenai replied, exasperated.

"And it would be better if she lived with you?"

"She'll get better training from me, and she'll have a better quality of life," Kurenai explained, sounding as if she had repeated this a few times. Behind her, she could hear the quiet sound of weeping. Turning, she saw Hinata was hunched against the wall, face buried in her hands. Seizing the opportunity, Kurenai went on the attack. "Is this how you want your daughter to live? If you only _knew _how much she feels like this, you'd agree with me!" she stated, staring into Hiashi's eyes. Unfortunately, Hiashi's bland expression betrayed no emotion.

"She is like that because she is not strong. There is no purpose to a child who does not have strength. She is useless," Hiashi said mildly, turning away.

"You don't even know your own daughter. She has so many skills, so many strengths, that you just don't know about," Kurenai pleaded. "Let her leave here. Let her come with me."

"I see I'll get nowhere speaking with you," Hiashi answered, turning. Raising one eyebrow, he turned to his oldest daughter, still hunched by the wall. "So I will leave it up to Hinata."

At the mention of her name, Hinata glanced up, eyes slightly red from crying. Hiashi continued, "Why do you want to leave here, Hinata? Do you even wish to leave?"

Slowly, Hinata stood, using the wall behind her as a support for shaky legs. Why did she want to leave? There were so many things she just couldn't tell her father. But did it matter? She was leaving. Her heart rose into her throat as she began to speak. "Father, I _do _want to leave. There is nothing else left here for me. You don't care for me; I don't think you ever have." As she continued, her voice began to rise. "I have no friends here. I'm sick of this clan. I don't want to be part of this power struggle. Everybody has given up on me, i-including myself. But now I want to change." Suddenly, her voice dropped, almost to a whisper. "You may have given up on me, Father, but now, I have decided that _I _will never give up on myself."

Glancing quickly over at Hiashi, Kurenai smiled at the man's look of shock. Turning, she grinned at Hinata, who still stood, wide-eyed, apparently amazed at her own audacity. Finally, Hiashi nodded once, a single, precise, definite movement. "You may leave," he stated slowly, and then turned, leaving the room.

"Let's go, Hinata," Kurenai called to Hinata, beckoning her. Slowly, Hinata moved towards the door, seemingly moving in a daze. Crossing the threshold of her family house, Hinata felt as if she'd been a ghost all her life, and had finally just come alive. The haze over her vision vanished, and everything suddenly seemed much brighter. A face stained with tears suddenly came alive with a smile. To Kurenai, it seemed like the brightest smile she had ever seen. Meowing, Yasuo met them again, rising from his nap in the warm sun outside. Hinata crouched to pick him up.

Strolling back to Kurenai's apartment, the jounin slung an arm around her student's shoulders. "You really have changed, Hinata," she told her, smiling down at her.

Hinata only nodded, and continued walking towards her new home, and to her, a whole new life.

**Thank you for reading! If you liked it, review. If you didn't like it, review. Tell me why!**


	4. Confession

**Another speed Naruto is in this chapter, as is Neji. If you feel that they are OOC, at least FINISH the chapter before commenting or reviewing. Thank you, and read, review, and enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: Hinata, and all the other Naruto characters, as well as the whole Naruto-verse belong to Masashi Kishimoto...not me.**

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**Chapter 4: Confession**

At the entrance to Kurenai's apartment, the jounin dug in one of the pouches of her flak jacket. "I know it's here somewhere," she muttered, finally pulling a small disc out of her pocket. "Here. It's connected to my chakra, so if you're in trouble..." She trailed off and held out the object.

Hinata took the communication badge from Kurenai's outstretched hand. "Thank you," she whispered, feeling the cool metal against her palm.

"You shouldn't need to even do anything. It'll automatically tell me if you're in danger. Just keep it with you at all times," Kurenai responded, specially emphasizing the last three words.

"Yes, sensei," Hinata responded, bowing her head. Kurenai nodded, eyes lingering on her student. What Hinata really needed was to learn how to hold her head up _all _the time, and not just when things depended on it. She shook her head, thinking of the underlying issues.

"I'll be at the Hokage's office again. I'm sure she'll want at least a small update," she said, beginning to head down the stairs. "See you later." Hinata watched her walk away and then opened the door to Kurenai's apartment. Yasuo trotted in ahead of her, black tail waving jauntily in the air. Watching him jump up onto Kurenai's couch, Hinata was struck by the horrible feeling of being alone. She was alone again. Given, she couldn't expect to have companionship all the time, but she just... She didn't _like _to be alone. She imagined that no one did. And a cat didn't count as a companion, did it?

Hinata dropped her bags just inside the door and collapsed onto the overstuffed chair sitting in the middle of the main room, leaving her medicine chest in her lap. She looked over the tiny badge in her hand. A simple flat disc of metal, it was about the size of a large coin. The leaf symbol of Konoha was etched into one side, and the characters for Kurenai's name were on the other. She felt safe with it her hands, knowing that if she was threatened again, her teacher would be there to come to her rescue. Thoughtfully, she tucked the disc in her pocket.

She sat there for a while, just thinking. She was safe, for all that that meant. Living with Kurenai didn't seem like it would be that big of a deal, but it would definitely be a nice change. After that last encounter with Hanabi and her father, she wasn't sure if she even would want to go back any time soon. She didn't think that Hanabi could ever be like that. She'd always thought that her younger sister would reach a plateau at some point, and her father would throw her aside as he'd thrown his oldest daughter aside. However, that hadn't happened, and now Hanabi had grown to be much different than Hinata. Hinata was surprised at herself for not realizing this before. With a deep sigh, she got up to sidetrack herself with some other activity.

Setting her medicines aside on a low table, she picked her bags up from the door, dragging them further into the room so they wouldn't cause trouble. She didn't know where to unpack, and if everything kept going right, they'd be leaving soon anyways. Quietly, she moved on to the kitchen, searching for something more to do. Finding nothing of interest there, she turned back to the living room, and her medicines. Remembering her failed bruise balm from the day before, she decided that it might be best to get some help. Nothing that smelled that bad could have been right. The med-nins over at the hospital all knew stuff like this, and there was a very good chance at least one of them could explain it to her.

Grabbing the box from the table, she headed out the door, leaving it unlocked as Kurenai had before her. Walking down the stairs of the jounin's apartment building, she hefted the bulky medicine kit onto one hip. Stepping out into the sunshine, she suddenly felt a lot brighter. It was as if the box balanced at her side gave her new purpose.

Hinata walked along, watching the people around her. She stayed towards one side of the road, unconsciously trying to avoid others. The low murmur of talk numbed her ears, and soon she simply trudged along, trying not to think about anything specific. It was better not to brood, and there was no point to it anyway. All that could be done had, so far, been done.

Her head snapped up as she heard shouting and pounding footsteps. Before she could figure everything out in her head, she found herself flat on her back, wincing in pain. She hopped up into a crouch, drawing a kunai with shaking hands.

"Hinata?" a puzzled voice asked. She finally ran everything through her head, staring at the boy in bright orange in front of her.

"N-Naruto?" she squeaked. The kunai went back into its' pouch.

"Sorry," Naruto replied, kneeling to pick up something. "I wasn't watching where I was going." Hinata paused for a second, looking for her medicine box. It sat beside her, in a shattered pile of glass and wood. She gasped, watching the medicines she'd worked so long on spread across the dirt. Each separate bottle was like a tiny little dream draining out and disappearing into the earth.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked once more, looking over her shoulder. He saw the ruined case and he frowned. "What was it?" he questioned, bending and gathering shards of the light wood and varicolored glass.

"It was my medicines and supplies," she replied softly, gently picking up pieces of glass. "I was going to the hospital to talk to a med-nin, but I...I guess I won't now." Naruto glanced at her, surprised. That was more words than he'd ever heard her say. She blushed furiously, feeling her face go hot.

"Well, I guess it was my fault, so...how about I buy you a new one?" he suggested, standing up and throwing the pieces of wood he held away in a nearby trash can. Hinata followed his lead, throwing away the glass.

"Uh...umm..." she stammered, realizing what he'd offered. "Naruto-kun, t-that's...really very...kind of you," she answered, blush intensifying. She didn't know how to describe it, but there was something about him. Everybody else only seemed to see the bold side of him, the part of him that played jokes and screwed off all the time. Only a few people watched him enough to see the other half, the kinder half. She liked to think that she was one of them.

One of her favorite memories of him was when she'd been watching him one day, and he found an injured cat. The young Naruto had nursed the cat back to health, changing its bandages and hand-feeding it every day, no matter what. She'd watched the whole incident, and seen the cat eventually wander away from Naruto's home one day, healed and ready to move on. It was the only time she'd ever seen Naruto cry, although she was sure he had cried more than that, the way everybody treated him.

Caught in her memories, Hinata suddenly realized that he was still waiting for an answer, bouncing energetically from foot to foot. He looked so sad and apologetic, she was absolutely sure he truly did feel remorse. She considered refusing his offer, but quickly discarded it. What would he think of her? He had offered to purchase her new things in the first place. That had to guarantee he was sincere, didn't it? She began to chew on her lower lip.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked, frowning. "You're okay, right?"

Her head snapped up and for a single instant, she stared right into his face. "That would be very nice, Naruto-kun," she answered. The boy looked surprised for an instant, but then began strutting towards the section of town holding dozens of different stores and shops.

"Let's go then," he called. Hinata quickly hurried after him, catching up to him and walking beside him. Nervously, she clasped her hands in front of her, tying her fingers in knots. Occasionally, she would glance over at Naruto, who was bouncing jauntily along beside her, as usual for him. She didn't notice that he would glance over at her every so often too.

Luckily, the walk to the shops was short, because it was made in a rather uncomfortable silence. When they arrived at the end of the long road lined with stalls and stores, they stopped. "Umm..." Naruto began awkwardly. "Where exactly do you get stuff like that?"

"There's a few places," Hinata answered, raising one arm to point in the direction of the stalls she most commonly frequented. She often needed more herbs and supplies, especially after botched attempts like yesterdays. When the pair reached the stalls, Naruto immediately targeted the booth featuring boxes and containers.

"Might as well start at the beginning, eh?" he asked Hinata, beginning to look over the many different shapes, sizes and colors of chests available. Hinata timidly joined him, delicately opening a small, light-colored box and inspecting the compartments inside. When a sickening smell wafted up from within, she closed it quickly, puzzled at the pungent odor. Moving on to another one, she slowly began working her way around the cart. Naruto came around from the other side.

A dark colored wooden box caught her eye, crafted of polished mahogany. Reaching out for it, she was surprised to see Naruto reach out also. Laying her hand on the box, he absently placed his hand on top of hers. Noticing where his hand was, surprise flickered over his face, and he quickly jerked his hand back, turning away slightly. Flushing lightly, Hinata pulled the box towards her, opening it swiftly. She studied the interior, avoiding Naruto's gaze. "It looks very nice," she said slowly. "It's so expensive, though." She closed it reluctantly and put it back in its place on the booth's shelves. Turning to another, smaller one, she opened it to look at it again. "This one's nice too."

"We'll take this one," Naruto announced behind her, plunking the dark colored box in front of the stall's owner.

Hinata whirled around to stop him. "Naruto-kun, no!" she protested. "That's really not necessary. The other one will be perfect," she continued.

"This one will be more perfect then," he replied resolutely, pulling out his frog shaped wallet. Before Hinata could protest further, he counted out the money the shopkeeper requested and grabbed his purchase. Turning, he placed it in Hinata's hands. "Let's go fill it up, huh?" he spouted energetically, already moving toward the nearby stalls. A little reluctantly, she followed him.

Once they reached the stalls full of herbs and other medicinal supplies, Hinata slowly began to feel as if she knew what she was doing. In the span of a few minutes, she had gathered an armful of purchases, and was on her way to pick out more. It seemed like a lot of stuff to fit in one box, but when she thought about it, she probably had had this much already. The only difference was that it had been accumulated over time. Now she'd be able to start with fresh supplies of everything.

Naruto proved surprisingly indulgent, quite willing to buy her almost anything she wanted. She was almost sure that it was because he felt guilty, but somehow, wasn't totally certain. Of course, Naruto always liked to solve problems that he had started, so that could just be his way of solving this one.

As she rounded the corner of one of the larger carts, Naruto tagging along behind her, she caught sight of her father. Hanabi danced alongside him, holding his hand tightly. Hinata closed her eyes tightly, ignoring them. Her lower lip curled in and her arms came up in front of her. Quickly, she turned away from them, unwilling to see the reflection of her past walk across the street in front of her.

It had been like that with her and her father once. Until Hanabi had been born, and a more promising option had appeared to the Hyuuga clan. After that, Hinata had been cast aside, a useless addition to the family. If not for her own hopes, she would have dropped out of the Academy right away. However, there was nowhere else for her to go. A small part of her had wanted to change, just to prove her father wrong. Over time, that dream had changed to have nothing at all to do with her father, and now all she wanted was to change herself. She kept telling herself that, but maybe the small part of her still remained, still wanted to prove to her father that she _could_ change, and be stronger for it.

Naruto was surprised to see tears brimming in Hinata's eyes. Even in the middle of her fight with Neji, with all that pain and tension, she hadn't cried. She'd been upset, yes, but never in tears. Concerned, he stepped towards her. In response, she shoved all the packages she was holding into his arms and turned away from him also, covering her face with her hands. Seeing a bench nearby, she sat down on it, and pulled her knees up to her chest, completely hiding her face from outside. Naruto had taught her to be strong, even if he hadn't known it. And now, she was doing the exact opposite.

Naruto sat down beside her, frowning. "Hinata? What's going on?" he asked quietly, staring at her. After a few moments of silence, he continued, "I'm sorry I ran into you and broke your box. I didn't think you'd get so upset about it. It _was_ an accident."

"It's not that," Hinata choked out. "It's nothing."

"If you're this upset over it, it can't be nothing," Naruto persisted, forehead creasing in annoyance and worry. More silence followed. "Hinata?"

"It's my family," she finally said, voice muffled.

"Family?"

"I'm living at Kurenai's apartment right now," Hinata began, looking up at Naruto. Before she knew it, she'd told him everything. Surprisingly, Naruto simply sat and listened, not even fidgeting. After finishing her monologue, she suddenly snapped out of it and stared at him with wide eyes. Her cheeks flushed bright red and she turned away, burying her face in her hands again. "I-I'm sorry," she finished. "I didn't mean to bore you. These are my problems; you don't need to hear about them."

Naruto seemed a little stunned. "No, no problem," he stammered. "I'm glad you told me." Standing, he dropped the packages of supplies Hinata had handed him earlier on the counter of the stall and turned back towards her. "I told Neji this, and I'll tell you. One day, I'm going to change the Hyuuga. I'll be Hokage, and I _swear_, they'll be the _first_ to change!" he said firmly, hands clenched in fists at his sides.

Hinata did not reply, only stood up, eyes still red from crying. She nodded in acceptance of Naruto's words, and then moved to the counter, collecting her purchases. Naruto suddenly came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. His slightly shorter height made it a little awkward, but he went through with it anyways. She stiffened in his grasp, and flushed even brighter. Standing slightly on tiptoe, Naruto said quietly, "Everything will be okay. You know...you may not be important to _everybody_ else, but you have to at least be important to yourself. And think about it, Hinata. You're more important to more people than you realize."

He let go of her abruptly, and paid for her purchases, accepting the bags the proprietor handed back to him. "Lead the way," he told Hinata, gesturing forward.

She did so, waiting for him to walk alongside her. When they reached the jounin apartments, he handed her the bags he had carried for her. "I'll see you later, Hinata," he said quietly. It was rapidly darkening outside, and people were beginning to trickle into their homes, vacating the streets. "I'm sorry about your box," he apologized once more. Waving, he began to run off down the street towards his own home.

"Goodbye, Naruto," she said in reply, but so quietly, she could barely hear herself. She climbed the stairs and went into Kurenai's apartment. She still had trouble thinking of it as her 'home'. Yasuo greeted her inside the door, meowing loudly.

"Hey, little guy," she greeted him. As she walked to her room, he followed her, still yowling. She set her things on the bed and picked up him, cuddling him to her chest. At a small growl from him, she let up a little, remembering his leg. She checked it over lightly, and her eyes drifted to the new supplies and medicine case on her bed. Yasuo yowled once more, and she put him down. In the kitchen, she prepared him a small can of tuna from Kurenai's cupboard and left it on a plate on the floor for him. He attacked it with ferocious hunger. Satisfied that he was content for the time being, Hinata returned to her room and began to organize her things.

After an hour, it was finally arranged in perfect order. She then proceeded back to the kitchen, set the box on the kitchen table, and began to work on a few simple, basic ointments. Below her, Yasuo curled up by her feet, stomach full of fish. Thoughtfully, she decided that maybe sometime soon she really _would _go see that med-nin, just so she could figure out how to make that lotion for Yasuo's sake. Or maybe she could go see Kiba before she left on her mission. Living a life around dogs, you would almost certainly learn a little bit about veterinary medicine.

Shortly after she began, Kurenai came home, a little bruised and beat up. "Sorry I'm late," she called to Hinata. "I fought a sparring match with Asuma, and got a little caught up in it." She rubbed the back of her head with a nervous smile. "I brought dinner." The fragrance of fried chicken came from a plastic bag she held in one hand. As Kurenai walked into the kitchen, she got a look at the table, which was littered with new glass bottles, herbs, plants, and various other supplies.

Hinata looked up at her teacher. "Sorry, table's taken," she said timidly.

"No big deal," Kurenai replied. She pulled some paper plates out of the cupboard and walked out to the living room. "We'll eat out here."

Her student followed her, accepting a plate and a piece of chicken. Kurenai swallowed her food and said conversationally, "Where'd you get that new box?"

"Naruto bought it for me," Hinata replied, looking down at her plate. "He ran into me and broke the old one."

"That was nice of him." Kurenai left it at that. Shortly after, both she and her student went to bed.

Hinata lay there, thinking, absently stroking Yasuo, who had fallen asleep curled up at her side. She'd only been here for a few days, and she had trouble accepting it as 'home', but still, it felt more like the place she belonged than anywhere else. And then Naruto... He'd acted so differently today. She'd tried to be so nice to him, had watched him for so many years. She had changed herself because of him, but now...maybe...he had changed too? Slowly, sleep overcame her.

Hinata woke with a start. Above her, the ceiling rose to heights she couldn't even see. Slowly, she stood, looking around her cautiously. A hallway extended in front of her, going on so long it faded into darkness. The chamber was seemingly made of white stone, with no imperfections to be found anywhere. The long columns lining the room were decorated with more carved stone, light lavender in color. In some places, the stone was cut so thin she could see through it. There were dozens of pillars, all of the smooth white and lavender stone. Each pillar had a single hanging on it.

She moved closer to see what the hangings were. Brushing aside a piece of filmy white cloth, she uncovered a picture, inside an etched-silver frame. Timidly, she held the fabric aside, getting a better look at the image. A quintet of faces stared back at her; it was a family portrait. She tucked the cloth behind the corner of the frame, and brushed her fingers across the glass, staring. A single man stood in the foreground, pupilless white eyes staring solemnly at the outside world. He reminded her of her father in a way. He had the same composure and feel, that of strict discipline and somberness.

In fact, all five people in the picture were true to the Hyuuga lineage, dark hair and white eyes standing out to the young genin. She fingered her own hair, twining a strand of it around one finger. Studying the other four in the picture, she noticed another thing. The seals that stood out starkly on their foreheads: the symbol of the Caged Bird. All four were Branch House members. And the one man was the leader of the Main House. To all appearances, these five were the very beginnings of the Hyuuga line.

Looking even closer, she noticed one thing more: silver chains bound the Branch House members hand and foot. Shackles bound their wrists and ankles, keeping them subservient to the Main House. The bright silver of the chains was flecked with blood. Hinata was unsure exactly whose blood it was.

Slowly, she withdrew her hand, still gazing at the five Hyuugas. She noticed that the expressions of the faces of the four covered a range of emotions, from proud and prideful to hateful and sullen. She shivered at the thought of the warm blood on the icy silver of the chains, and quickly covered the portrait with the cloth once more.

Apprehensively, she continued moving down the hall, ignoring all the other portraits. It seemed to go on forever. Stuck in the rhythm of walking, she barely noticed when she reached the end. Only one portrait had no cloth veiling it. Hinata walked up to it, already anticipating what it would show.

Standing tall in the middle of the picture was her father, his face proud and cold. In front of him, her father's hands resting on her shoulders, was Hanabi, face molded into a rare smile. Hinata saw herself standing timidly in the background, eyes downcast in fear and uncertainty. Neji stood as a looming presence, shadowing all of the Main House. As she looked closer, Hinata saw that Neji, as the Branch House members before him, had shackles on his wrists and ankles. However, his lacked the blood that the ones in the past had had.

Tiny cracks permeated the metal of Neji's shackles. A few of them almost completely crossed it. As she began to study it closer, a voice rang out from behind her. "Hinata-sama, welcome," it said, low and melodic.

She whirled, pressing her back against the pillar. "What do you want?" she called, a light note of panic in her voice.

"Nothing but peace," the voice replied. Neji stood calmly in front of her, hands spread in a gesture of amity. "I want to break the chains, Hinata-sama."

"Chains..." She glanced behind her at the picture quickly. "Chains of what?" she countered shakily.

"They are chains of hatred and loathing between our Houses," Neji told her quietly, eyes hardening in pain. "Chains of fear and death. We need to sever these bonds." Pale hands reached up and removed his headband, revealing his own seal. His eyes softened, creasing in sorrow, and he lightly touched a finger to his seal. "This is death, worn freely on my forehead. My father died because of it."

"These are invisible chains," he continued softly, holding his wrists in front of him. "All we desire is freedom, wings to fly free."

"You may think that the Main House is 'free', Neji, but in our own way, we too bear chains. I may once have had wings, but...I have lost them," Hinata told him, after a short pause to collect her thoughts.

"Did you ever get them back?"

Silently, Hinata shook her head. Finally, Neji spoke up again. "Some people are born closer to the sun..." He trailed off, looking down at the ground.

"What?" Hinata encouraged him. "Explain it to me."

"Simply put, some are born in light. They live out their happy lives, basking in the warmth and heat. And the rest are just children of the darkness, rotting away, decaying in pools of their own filth," he told her, the words tumbling out in a rush. "You and I now, we are children of the dark."

Both stood in an uneasy silence, Hinata absorbing the impact of what Neji had said. Finally, she shuffled her feet and spoke. "What about the stars?"

His eyes lightened, and a mask of discouragement and pain lifted from his face. "You're right," he answered, closing his eyes. "Very right." After a moment, he opened them and smiled lightly. "If you look closer, Hinata-sama, I think you will find that the Gentle Fist style suits you better than you think."

With a gasp, Hinata woke, eyes staring into the darkness. She swallowed hard, still breathing quickly. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the kitchen and pulled a notepad off the fridge. Flicking on the light, she hurriedly scribbled down what Neji had said in her dream. Forgetting it would be next to impossible, but she didn't want to take any chances. After she finished her note, she turned the light off and padded back to her bedroom, careful not to wake Kurenai up, who was still sleeping on the couch.

The next morning, Kurenai rose from her makeshift bed and stretched, heading directly for the kitchen and her morning coffee. Spying the notepad on the table, she paused, scanning it quickly. Sliding a chair out, she sat down and began to read in earnest. Thinking it over, she began to chew on her lower lip. From the basic overview written here, perhaps something deeper was going on in the Hyuuga clan than was originally suspected. Still deep in thought, Kurenai went to wake Hinata up and begin the final preparations for their mission**.**

**Thank you for reading! hands out cookies If you liked it, review. If you didn't like it, review. Tell me why! kthx, bye. **


	5. Commencement

**Chapter 5 - Commencement**

**Wow, folks. I'm sorry this took so long. I've been under a lot of stress now that school's started. (I used to do about 80 of my writing in class. This has degraded to around 20.) So it's a little slow, but it's here. Sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy it. One other thing is that the actual trip itself to Sound Country and Cloud Village la de dah would take a lot longer than chronicled here. I just don't see the point of writing it all out. So pretend it's there.**

**Hinata and the Naruto-verse is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own them, just write about them.**

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"You ready to go?" Kurenai asked, checking the straps on her ugly utilitarian pack. It wasn't pretty, but the thing blocked shuriken attacks from behind, so who was she to complain?

"Yes," Hinata replied firmly. Her new box was freshly supplied, and clutched tightly to her chest.

"We should get you a med-nin's pack." Kurenai commented thoughtfully, absently chewing a fingernail. "They've got special straps for holding their supplies, so your hands are free."

"That'd be nice," Hinata responded.

"I'd have gotten you one before, but you've never been as attached to that box as you are now." She checked the clock quickly, and then continued. "If we hurry, we'll have just enough time to get to the main supply station, switch packs, and then get over to meet Sakura and Ino at the gates."

"Let's go then," Hinata answered, already at the door. Tucking the case under one arm, she opened the door with the other. "C'mon, Yasuo," she called, beckoning the cat to her. He quickly trotted over, a light bounce in his step.

"We're bringing the cat with?" Kurenai said, a little surprised. So far, she'd been very astonished at her student's sudden change in nature. Now she was much more assertive than she'd been even a few days ago. It made her relax a little when Hinata reverted slightly to her usual meekness upon Kurenai's question.

"Not if you don't want him," she answered. "He doesn't have to."

"I'm just worried he'll get lost or hurt or something. If you'll excuse my saying so, he really isn't like Akamaru in those senses."

"You're right," Hinata conceded, nodding. "But he can't stay here alone."

"We'll have to leave him with someone." Kurenai quickly ran through the list of people she knew Hinata was acquainted with. Finally… "Naruto?" she asked, more than a little skeptical. Hinata leaned down awkwardly and scratched Yasuo between the ears.

"He'd be fine there, I'm sure," she finally replied, standing again. "Naruto likes cats."

Kurenai only raised one eyebrow momentarily, and smiled to herself before slipping out the door behind her student.

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After switching packs at the supply station, Hinata quickly transferred her belongings into the new one, and then buckled her medicine box securely into the special straps on the top of the pack. Designed to both enable the shinobi to move better and to allow quick access to medicines, Hinata was quite pleased with it. But now came something a little less pleasing: talking to Naruto.

Nervously, she walked beside Kurenai towards Naruto's apartment. What if he didn't remember who she was? He probably wouldn't want to take care of her cat anyways. What with the feeding and the litter boxes, who would want to? But it wasn't the cat's fault. And she didn't want to be a burden on Kurenai either. It'd be better just to leave him here, but then Naruto would have to take care of him. Everybody else was either busy, on a mission, or would never want to take care of a cat. What if she thought she was assuming he would take care of Yasuo? She kind of was, but she was _reasonably _sure he'd take care of him… And…

Kurenai jerked Hinata out of her flood of worries when she elbowed her hard in the ribs. "Wha-?" Hinata asked, blinking a few times.

"Kiba," Kurenai answered, pointing. "Out for a morning run, it seems."

"He already knows we're leaving," Hinata mentioned. "I'd…kind of like to say goodbye."

The jounin nodded in reply. "There are a couple things I need to tell him too. Oi! Kiba!" she called loudly, waving one arm. He stopped dead and turned to look at her.

"Kurenai?" he asked. "You guys leaving today?" he asked, peeking curiously at their packs. Reaching a hand around Hinata, he rapped his knuckles on the medicine box. "Healer in training, eh?" he asked with a smile. "I never told you before, but that stuff you gave me after my fight really helped." Kurenai grinned as Hinata's cheeks flushed at Kiba's compliment.

"T-thank you," the girl finally stammered. "I'll make you some more when I get a chance."

"It'll help him out a lot, the amount of scrapes he gets into," Kurenai joked, trying to break the awkwardness. Kiba stuck his tongue out in reply. Akamaru, who had been tucked into Kiba's shirt, finally poked his head up and yawned, blinking blearily at Kurenai and Hinata. Catching sight of Yasuo, who was now nestled in Hinata's arms, the dog looked a little disgruntled, but caused no trouble.

"We have to get going," Kurenai continued, glancing at the rapidly lightening sky. "We're going to be late."

"I guess I'll say goodbye then," Kiba replied. He reached out spontaneously and hugged Hinata to him tightly, putting his mouth right by her ear. "Stay safe, Hinata," he whispered.

"I will," she promised. "You stay out of trouble." Akamaru wiggled in protest between the two until Kiba let go of her and stepped back. Happily, the dog jumped out of Kiba's shirt and licked Hinata wetly across the face.

"Enough!" Kiba laughed, pulling him back. "She gets it. You say goodbye too, right?"

"See you, Akamaru," she told him, scratching him on one ear and wiping slobber off her face.

"Bye, Kurenai." Kiba turned to his teacher, hugging her as well. Hinata wasn't able to hear their words, but after, Kiba looked sufficiently innocent that she doubted he'd make much trouble while they were gone. Kurenai smiled in that devilish way of hers that her team knew very well before flapping a hand at Hinata.

"Let's go," she announced, stepping forward. "Be back in a while, Kiba. Don't have too much fun without us."

"Bye," Hinata murmured, waving lightly.

"Good luck," Kiba answered quietly, although neither of the two could hear him.

* * *

Kurenai and Hinata stopped outside of the stairs to the apartment building Naruto lived in. "Are you _sure _he lives here?" Hinata asked timidly.

"Probably," Kurenai shrugged. "Leave your stuff, grab Yasuo and let's go." Dropping her own pack, she started up the stairs.

Quickly, Hinata pulled the straps of the pack off and set it down, still holding Yasuo. "Come on, little guy," she whispered to him. "You'll like Naruto." Kurenai waited outside the door, and after she caught sight of Hinata and the cat, raised her hand to knock.

There was no reply, and she knocked harder. Still no reply. "He must sleep like Kiba," she grumbled, pulling out a kunai and ramming the hilt of it into the door loud enough to echo up and down the hallway.

"Maybe he's not here," Hinata suggested quietly, hoping to get Kurenai to stop making such a racket.

"At this time of day?" She laughed before knocking again. Finally, the jounin reached forward and turned the handle, opening the door with a vicious creak. "Needs some oil," she growled before stepping into the mess that was Naruto's home. Suddenly, the boy popped out of his bedroom, yawning and with an odd hat on his head.

"Eh?" he yelped when he caught sight of the girls in his house. "Hinata? What are you doing here?" Hinata looked to Kurenai to take charge, but Kurenai only looked back at Hinata expectantly, and then winked. The girl flushed, and then held out Yasuo.

"I have a cat that I was wondering if you'd take care of," she started lamely. "His name's Yasuo, and he's litter-box trained and everything. He's really nice, and I'll even pay you to take care of him while I'm away." Yasuo, not so happy at being left behind, tried to look as sullen and mean as possible. Of course, this didn't deter Naruto.

"A cat!" he exclaimed, and in seconds, he was petting the kitten's black fur and dangling a pencil for him to play with. Hinata smiled as Naruto tilted his head forward to let Yasuo play with the end of his hat.

"Is that a yes, then?" she asked. He didn't respond, being too busy playing with the cat. "Naruto?" Kurenai just shook her head.

"Let's go, Hinata. They like each other enough."

A few minutes later, Naruto looked up to accept Hinata's offer, only to find her gone. Holding the purring black cat to him, he announced, "Well, I guess it's just you and me…Yummy, was it? Something like that." Yasuo yowled in protest, which Naruto didn't understand. "Well, Yummy, I'm still tired, so I'm going back to bed." With that, he went back into his room and shut the door, going back to sleep.

* * *

At last the two met up with Sakura and Ino at the Konoha Village gates. Both girls looked tired, and Ino was barely keeping her eyes open. "Ready to go?" Kurenai asked, all too brightly.

Ino grunted and Sakura just shook her head. "Kakashi never makes us get up this early," she complained.

"It's just because by now you've learned that when he says seven o'clock, he really means about noon," Kurenai replied. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Asuma likes evening training and missions better," Ino whined, picking her pack up slowly from the ground.

"Well, lucky you! It just happens that I'm a morning person!" Kurenai responded with fake cheer. "Up and at 'em, ladies. Let's _go_." Waving them after her, she headed through the gates with a spring in her step, offering a salute to the guard at the top of the village walls.

A few minutes later, they were well on their way. Hinata was rather impressed; she had never known people could sleep and walk at the same time. Ino and Sakura were doing rather well, considering. "Where are we going?" Ino called from behind, breaking the silence. Kurenai looked back, surprised to see that the pair had apparently woken up a bit.

"You've already been briefed on this mission, you _should _know," she chided, turning away again.

"No, I know _that_," she explained. "How _far_ is it?"

"At least a few days travel," Kurenai answered, shaking her head. It was going to be a long mission.

Far behind them, another followed, watching them carefully with enhanced vision. A lowly member of the Hyuuga clan, she had been entrusted with this mission due to her unique skills. Blending in with the shadows, she slithered along after the group, keeping vigilant eyes on Hinata. By the time this group arrived back at Konoha Village, that girl would no longer exist. Mind filled with her duty, Hoshiko slid after them, her jutsu enabling her to blend in seamlessly and undetectably with the little darkness that was left on the bright sunny day.

"Up!" Kurenai called loudly, whipping a kunai towards Ino's position.

Ino popped up from the grass, cussing. "What the hell!" she protested, raising her fists above her head in frustration.

"Grass gave you away," Kurenai explained, pointing. "Too much of it is pressed down; you left a dent." Ino turned and looked. Noticing Kurenai's point, she stomped her foot and swore again, storming back over to the jounin and sitting down by her feet.

"Sakura's over there," Ino said off-handedly, pointing towards a small tree.

Kurenai studied the area carefully, and confirmed Ino's information. "Thank you," she muttered, tossing another kunai. Sakura bounced up and caught the kunai, mouth already open to complain.

"That's cheating!" she whined. "Ino's not supposed to tell you anything!"

"Yes, but consider if this was a real mission. She would have easily squealed on you. Doesn't say much for her character, but at least you know if she's captured, you should worry about keeping your own skin safe," Kurenai responded sharply. "You can't even trust your own partners a lot of the time. So don't."

With a sigh, Sakura sat down next to Ino and laid back in the long grass. "Where's Hinata?" she asked Ino, gazing up at the clouds.

"I don't know," Ino scoffed. "I haven't even seen her."

Kurenai turned and pointed at a large tree. "There," she called, throwing a third and final kunai to bury itself in the tree's trunk. Hinata obediently dropped down out of the tree, coming over to the trio. "I didn't even see her until just now. Why?"

Ino shrugged and picked at a piece of grass. Sakura spoke up. "Ino and I stayed in the grass, but she went up in the trees where it's harder to see details and harder to detect a human shape."

"Very good," Kurenai praised.

"But the trees were off limits," Ino pointed out. "She cheated."

"So did you!" Sakura yelped.

"So?"

"Ino-pig…"

"So what did we learn?" Kurenai interrupted condescendingly.

Silence. Finally, Hinata answered, "Shinobi have no rules besides those of their personal conduct."

"Remember that," the jounin instructed the other two genin. "Now up. We'll go another few miles and stop for a training break."

"Where are we?" Ino asked, shivering. "It's _creepy_."

"You noticed, did you?" Kurenai smirked. "Welcome to Sound Country, girls. The geographical terrain of this area tends to make it very cold, and very wet, so if you want to bundle up, this would be the time to do it." The jounin herself already wore a dark red cloak, slick with the mist and damp that was already prevalent. Hinata was warm in her typical sweatshirt, although her toes were beginning to freeze from continually walking through the wet brush and grass in the forest they traveled through.

Ino and Sakura, on the other hand, were rapidly turning blue. "That's it!" Sakura shouted, whipping her bag off and burrowing through it. Finally, she found a long dark blue cloak and pulled it on, keeping the hood up and sulking to herself. Ready to go, she turned to Ino. "You going to put anything on?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Nah, Sakura. You're just a crybaby," Ino responded quickly, sticking her tongue out.

"Okay…but I really don't think blue is your color," Sakura answered just as quickly. After that, Ino gave up the pretense of being warm and pulled on her own jacket.

"Well, now that everybody in the area knows we're here…" Kurenai dropped down from a tree where she had been scouting out the area ahead and behind. "I'll just tell you this now. _Be careful. _Sound Village is on very dangerous footing right now, and I wouldn't trust _anybody_. The number of missing-nins lately has probably risen drastically, so consider everyone as a possible enemy. We're traveling as close to the border as we can get, for safety's sake," she instructed seriously. Noting Sakura, Ino and Hinata's attentive looks, she continued caustically, "Don't tell me you've never heard this sort of thing before. Just remember that this may be a _little _more dangerous." Standing, she beckoned them forward. "Let's go now. Ino, you take point. I'll take tail."

* * *

"Here's good," Hinata suggested, sweeping one arm at the clearing in front of the group.

"No," Kurenai answered flatly, noting with a tinge of regret that her tone had caused Hinata to act like a kicked puppy. "Why not?"

"The open space?" Ino suggested. Earlier, she had learned that not answering questions got her in more trouble in the end than answering them and getting them wrong.

"No, that's preferable. Attacks from above are harder."

The genin thought for a moment before Ino spoke up again. "Is it the water?"

"Yeah, look at the tracks." Kurenai stepped forward to the tiny trickle of water bubbling up from a rock on the edge of the clearing. "All sorts of animal tracks. With this many comings and goings, we won't be able to sleep. Also, people may come here to drink, _and_ they probably know this is good hunting ground."

"So not here, but nearby?" Sakura questioned. "We'll probably need a source of fresh water."

"There's another clearing about 200 yards in that direction." Hinata pointed, using her Byakugan to search for suitable spots.

Sakura ran ahead to check it, and came back with approval. The group unpacked their things and set up a small traveling camp there. Sakura and Ino built up a fire for them, while Kurenai and Hinata rolled out the beds and went to collect water. On the way back to the fresh water, Kurenai handed Hinata half of the water bottles they all were carrying, and opened up the gallon jug she carried as standard kit. "How's it going?" she asked her student conversationally as they walked.

"It's going fine," Hinata answered warily. Was she doing something wrong? What was it? She wasn't talking much with Ino and Sakura, was that the problem? She'd never really talked with them much at all, really…maybe Kurenai thought she should.

"You've just been really quiet," the jounin explained. "I'm just worried that you're not getting along the best with Sakura and Ino."

"We're pretty different. We've never talked much…"

"Maybe you should try it. They might be friendlier than you'd think." Kurenai crouched and began to fill the bottles, fingers biting cold in the frigid water.

Hinata remained silent, taking the water from Kurenai as she filled them and passing the empty ones down. Kurenai was probably right; most girls did seem pretty talkative. She might know that if she ever talked to anybody. Hinata was very well aware that she rarely spoke with anyone besides her family, Kurenai, and her team. However, she didn't think she'd be talking to her family much.

She reached a hand up to grasp the Hyuuga family crest she wore around her neck. Kurenai had told her that the assassin from a few days back was wearing it, and Kakashi had saved it for her. Hinata wore it now, as a sign that she would not be forgetting her family, as well as a sign that they would not forget her. Wordlessly, she followed Kurenai back to the others, splitting the load of water.

The four sat around the fire, each preparing their own food. Pushing a heatproof bowl full of what looked like reconstituted soup towards the fire, Kurenai sat up and watched as the others finished up and waited impatiently for the food to be heated. Ino and Sakura had vetoed soup, which took longer to prepare, in favor of preserved meat sticks, and what looked like processed vomit (labeled as meat). Kurenai rolled her eyes. That stuff wasn't meat, it was protein in a can, and it didn't taste particularly good either…as Ino and Sakura were finding out. She smiled for a moment, before she caught the glint of metal in the firelight. "Hey, while I'm thinking of it, you guys," she spoke up. "Headbands off. Nobody should know we're shinobi from here on in, so be cautious. No code words, no jutsus, none of that other stuff. We're civilians now; act like it. And put the headbands in the bottoms of your packs. They're harder to find that way."

She removed her own and dug down in her pack to deposit it at the bottom. Sakura and Ino followed her lead, as did Hinata, but a little more reluctantly. Kurenai noted with interest the crest hanging around the girl's neck.

"Who's taking first watch?" Sakura asked with a sigh. "I don't really want it."

"I don't either!" Ino yowled.

There was a moment of silence before Hinata said, "I'll take it. I don't mind." Kurenai sighed. Of course Hinata wouldn't mind. She had sort of hoped Hinata would have protested having first watch when the question came up.

"I'll take second," Ino supplied.

"Third," Sakura called.

"That's fourth for me." Kurenai leaned down and picked up her soup, which was relatively warm now. After drinking it all down and scraping the last of the meat out of the bottom of the bowl…was meat _supposed _to make a film on the bottom of a bowl?...she walked to her bed. "Good night, everyone." The jounin lay down, turned over, and went to sleep.

"This stuff is gross…" Ino held up the can of meat she and Sakura were debating eating. It slid out of the container with a sucking noise and onto Ino's plate, standing there like a squat, not particularly appetizing, tower.

"Dare you to eat it." Sakura prodded the 'meat' with one finger, making it jiggle.

"What'll you give me?"

Sakura thought about this for a while before finally announcing, "A whole five minutes alone with Sasuke. I'll even set it up for you."

"Five minutes? That's not enough to eat _that_."

"Okay, ten."

"Deal."

"_Eat_ that meat!"

Ino distastefully broke a chunk of it off with her fingers and popped it in her mouth. Even Hinata had to laugh at her expression. The blonde genin spit it out into the fire, where it sat, not even burning yet. "That's _disgusting_! It tastes like cat food!" She guzzled down a bottle full of water, then swirled a mouthful around and spit it out again.

"How do you know what cat food tastes like?" Sakura inquired, trying not to laugh.

"I was a curious child, okay?" Ino spat back, annoyed. "But _man_, you owe me."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to bed." Sakura stood up, stretched and to all appearances, went to sleep. However, a few minutes later, when Ino started her evening preparations for sleep, Hinata could have sworn she heard Sakura giggling, just about when Ino started to gargle.

Shortly, the other three were asleep. Hinata pulled a paperback novel out of her bag. Using her thick cloak to shield her from the wet ground, she sat down with her back against a tree. Instead of reading, she simply watched the others. Would they be happy talking to her tomorrow? She knew Ino and Sakura had been friends since childhood. Trying to get to know them now felt like she was intruding. But she was getting sort of tired of being alone. Maybe tomorrow she would at least try it. The worst they could do was ignore her.

* * *

In the trees above, two ninja lounged, watching the group below. "It'll be full dark tonight," one of them commented to the other, chewing on a piece of meat jerky.

"Perfect timing," the other hissed in reply. "We've been lonesome for a long time, Toshi."

"Tamasine, stop it. You're freaking me out. Eat your meat stick."

**If you liked it, review it. If you didn't, review it. Tell me why! kthx, bye.**


	6. Mirror Image

The moon trickled lightly through the trees, its faint light brightening the tops of the trees, but leaving the forest floor almost completely dark. Smiling, Tamasine took a bite of his meat stick and mumbled, "Shall we?"

"It's time."

Sakura grumbled as Ino shook her awake. "It's third watch. You're up," the other girl whispered quietly, shaking her friend a little more.

"I'm up, I'm up," Sakura mumbled, pulling herself out from underneath her blankets. Feeling the cool night air against her skin, she decided to take a blanket with her. She watched as Ino crawled into her own bed and promptly fell asleep. Sakura leaned against a thick tree trunk, tucking the blanket securely around her.

Only a faint amount of moonlight shone through the thick treetops. Everything was only a different-colored shadow to her. It was so quiet. It seemed like even the animals were asleep. No night birds sang, and the wind only barely touched the trees and bushes.

Her eyelids began to droopclosed. Sleep took her for a little while, spiriting her through a glimpse of a dream. A rustling noise woke her. Her eyes snapped open, and she found a kunai in her hand. She didn't remember exactly where it came from. The noise was over before she was fully awake. She glanced around, noting that the other three of her team were still resting quietly. Sleep began to steal her away once more when she heard the same quiet noise, and then a thump.

She rubbed her eyes with her fists, trying to enable herself to see better in the near darkness. A shape moved near Ino's sleeping body. Sakura stayed low to the ground and crawled over to Hinata and Kurenai, shaking them awake. Both woke silently in the dark, eyes wide open. Sakura shifted her eyes toward the moving shadows. Kurenai nodded, and shifted her weight, turning over onto her stomach. The next instant, she'd grabbed both girls' wrists and pulled them up into the trees with her.

Up above, they could see the two intruders better in the clouded moonlight. Kurenai nudged Hinata, jerking her head towards the people below. "Byakugan!" Hinata whispered, after using her ability. "Sound-nin, both of them," she whispered, still watching them. "Thieves, by the look of it. They look exactly alike." She paused, coming back to herself. "Twins."

"Ino's not asleep," Sakura said quietly. "She never sleeps like that," she continued, gesturing to the blonde girl. Ino had both arms raised, curled around her head, eyes peacefully closed.

"Kurenai, what's the plan?" Hinata asked, turning anxious eyes toward her team leader.

"Judging by the feel of their chakra, they're both about high chuunin-level. Not quite jounin," Kurenai muttered.

"Chuunin?" both girls replied, shocked. Only a glare from Kurenai kept them from making more noise than that.

"I can fight equally with one of them, but probably not both at once," she continued. "I could take one of them, if you three will take the other."

"We're not up to it. We can't take on a chuunin at that level. Even us three together, we're only genin. We can't do it!" Sakura said quickly, hand on Kurenai's wrist.

"They have sound amplifiers, one each," Hinata whispered, noticing the metallic glint in the moonlight. "One on the right arm of one, the other's the left arm."

"You three _can _do it," the jounin answered, pushing Sakura's hand off of her arm. "Get Ino and the three of you can do it together. Be careful though. Something tells me that these two are not simple thieves."

"How can you tell?" Hinata asked.

"They haven't even touched our packs yet. If they were thieves, they would have taken them and gone. They're still here. What does that say to you?" the teacher answered.

"Killing intent…" Sakura whispered. Before Kurenai could stop the younger ninja, Sakura had already thrown her kunai, whipping it across the clearing. It thudded solidly into a tree trunk, quivering inches away from one of the shadowy forms.

"You gave away your location!" Kurenai hissed. "We have to move_ now._" With those hissed words, the jounin was gone.

"Sakura," Hinata whispered, tugging on the other girl's sleeve. "Ino's gone."

"I'm right here," a soft voice whispered.

"Ino!" Sakura yelped, jumping back.

Ino hushed the other girl, holding one finger to her lips. "What's going on?" she whispered.

"Two Sound-nin. Kurenai's taking one, and we're taking the other," Sakura quietly replied.

"Let's do it then!" Ino answered, jumping over to another tree to get a better view on the two. Sakura followed. Hinata glanced down for a few moments, and then reluctantly trailed the other two.

Kurenai circled the two intruders, waiting for them to split up a little more. When they finally did, she targeted the one coming closer to her hiding spot, waiting for the perfect moment. At last, the other ninja turned his back. Silently, Kurenai dived from her hiding place, kunai in hand. Her knees hit first, slamming the other into the ground. Before Kurenai had time to react, her opponent had weapons in both hands, slashing at her. She jumped backwards, staying low to the ground and hiding in the shadows.

"Tamasine, what happened?" the other Sound-nin barked, turning to face his partner.

"The enemy is here," Tamasine whispered, licking the thin trace of blood of his kunai. Kurenai raised one hand to her cheek, where blood beaded on her cut. "Toshi, shall we take her on?"

The other shook his head. "Their supplies and packs say that there are four ninja here. I shall watch for the others, and give you the honor of taking the first."

"Thank you, dear brother." Tamasine replied, getting slowly up from the ground and brushing dirt from his clothes. A narrow trace of blood ran down his chin, oozing from his lip. "Now it begins," he hissed, eyes narrowing to slits in the darkness.

Kurenai smiled grimly. These two weren't natural. From faint half-light images, she gathered that these two were twins. At the risk of a cliché, it was double trouble. In an instant, she vanished into thin air. Seamlessly, she stepped out of a tree and held two kunai, one at his throat, one at his back. "Check," she hissed in his ear, leaning forward, legs still part of the tree.

Tamasine's throat bulged as he swallowed, pressing lightly against Kurenai's blade. There was a single moment of silence before the Sound-nin laughed sharply, expelling the sound from his stomach. "Zankuuha!" Kurenai was blown backwards by the force of the air, going through the tree and slamming, hard, into the next. _Little slow on the draw_, she grimaced, checking her skull for bleeding. "Checkmate," Tamasine laughed, crossing his arms.

Still crumpled on the ground, Kurenai pulled three shuriken out of her pouches, her body hiding most of her movements. Whirling, she threw them in a neat pattern. Tamasine jumped out of the way, right into Kurenai, who had anticipated his movement. Her kunai sank deep into the side of his neck, and blood flowed heavily down over her fingers. Kurenai smiled for just a moment.

Then a large log fell to the ground, its weight pulling Kurenai's weapons with it. Kawarimi no Jutsu…

Above, the genin clustered high up in a tree, Hinata observing the fight occurring below. Even her sight couldn't reveal everything in this darkness, but she could do better than Sakura and Ino could. Behind her, she could hear the other two whispering about their plans. Sakura knew from past experience the sound of a Zankuuha, and the trio knew that at least one of their enemies had sound implants. After a long moment of observation, Hinata spoke up. "They're twins, right. The one is fighting with Kurenai, I can't tell who's winning. And the other…I can't find him."

"That's the one we're supposed to cover," Ino whined, gnawing nervously on one of her fingernails.

"Keep looking, Hinata," Sakura instructed. "Ino, what can we do to avoid the implants? You fought those three sound-nin too," she asked the other girl.

"I don't know, Sakura…" Ino looked frightened, her face pale in the moonlight. "Those blasts were pretty bad. They even took Lee down…"

Sakura looked at Ino in disbelief, luckily hid by the shadows. Ino was never this way, even when the pair had fought in the preliminaries. They could have been hurt, they could have even died, but determination – or maybe stubbornness – won out. Sakura couldn't really see how this was that different from that fight.

But when she actually thought about it, it made a lot of sense. Her team had been on a mission that had turned bad, and she'd probably had more experience in battle than Ino actually had. And Hinata, she always looked shy and scared. Sakura was surprised Kurenai and Kiba hadn't had more of an effect on her. But Ino…all she had was Shikamaru, Choji and Asuma, and that really wasn't much. Shikamaru would rather sleep than anything, and Choji would rather eat. And Asuma… Sakura wasn't actually surprised at all after thinking about it.

She leaned forward for a moment, laying her hand on Ino's shoulder. "It'll be fine, if we just work together," she assured her friend. "Relax, and help me think of a plan. I was thinking of something involving your Shintenshin."

"I can only use it if they hold still, remember?" Ino muttered. "I really don't see how that's going to happen."

"Over there," Hinata finally murmured, gesturing to another nearby tree. "She's watching the fight, probably planning to attack when Kurenai's focusing on the first."

"Let's take her out. She doesn't know where we are, right?" Sakura asked, suddenly looking more alert. Hinata shook her head. "Ino, can you make it?" Sakura turned to the blonde, looking quizzically at her.

With a nod, Ino fitted her hands into her signature seal, aiming carefully towards where Hinata pointed. "What do you want me to do exactly?" she asked. Sakura explained quickly, pointing at things to emphasize her point. After understanding, Ino focused, and she began to see hints of movement where Hinata pointed her towards, enabling her to aim better. Feeling a little more confident, she whispered, "Shintenshin no Jutsu."

Sakura caught Ino as she slumped over, sweat dribbling down the back of her neck as the plan she'd created was put into motion. For everybody's sake, she hoped this worked out. Hinata still peeked out of the edge of their tree, watching the sound-nins. "She moved," she hissed back to Sakura, eyes widening in panic. "It didn't hit."

The other genin sucked her lower lip in, thinking about the next move in her plan. There had to be a new plan now. Before she had much time to think, a cry of pain rang out from below.

The clone in front of Kurenai disappeared a fraction of a second before the real shinobi hit her from behind. She stumbled forward, not expecting the attack. Throwing herself to the ground, she used Tamasine's own momentum to toss him across the clearing. She didn't manage to get her opponent away from her in time, and a line of fire sliced down her arm. Turning instinctively to hold the edges of her wound together, her blood was slippery between her fingers. The warmth of it felt thick as it dripped down her arms. Distracted for a second, she barely heard the clink of metal as Tamasine turned to aim at her. "Zankuuha!"

Pushing herself to her feet, Kurenai barely managed to jump out of the way. The back draft from the blast of air turned her leap into a dive, and she tumbled to the ground, hitting heavily on her already-injured arm. Cursing, she stood, head on a swivel to determine where her enemy was.

Above her, Hinata watched, telling Sakura everything that happened. Still occupied with Ino, Sakura wasn't willing for any of them to move. There were still a few minutes until Ino would return, Kurenai was injured below, and the other enemy nin was on the move. Mind focused on creating a new plan, she barely noticed Hinata's movement out of the corner of her eye. "Hinata, wait," she called after the Hyuuga. It was too late. Hinata had already dropped down out of the tree, intent on helping her teacher.

Almost silently, she hit the ground next to Kurenai. The jounin was quickly and sloppily wrapping her injury with a roll of bandages. Hinata touched her gently on the shoulder, making her jump. The girl extended a hand, and Kurenai handed over the bandages, letting Hinata bandage her arm, quicker and cleaner than she could have done it on her own. Putting the final touches on the dressing, Hinata was suddenly scooped up underneath her teacher's uninjured arm. "Zankuukyokuha!" The voice this time was oddly amplified; it took Kurenai a moment to realize that the twins had finally gotten together as a team. The blast was even stronger this time, and it made her ears hurt. A mixture of sound and air?

"Be careful," Kurenai whispered. "They're twins, and they'll probably have special jutsus." Hinata just nodded in acknowledgement. Suddenly, both twins appeared on either side of them, closing to form one-on-one pairs. Kurenai only had time to pat Hinata on the shoulder encouragingly before launching herself at her attacker.

Hinata froze for a moment, staring at the sound-nin coming towards her. Her panicked mind, for some reason, absorbed details about him like a sponge. He was clothed in a mixture of dark green and camouflage, and she caught a glimpse of a sound implant in his left palm. Short, spiky black hair fell down into eyes that held just a hint of insanity. He smiled in the darkness, a slice of white teeth, burning itself into Hinata's mind. This girl would be easy prey.

She saw that look. He was cocky, overconfident. Kurenai had taught her that that overconfidence would be one of her big advantages. A smaller girl like her, who looked so fragile and weak, would be a big surprise for others. Maybe this time, she'd take Kurenai's advice, and prove her worth. The veins around her eyes stood out sharply as she barked out a battle cry, taking the Hyuuga battle stance.

Perfectly timed, she hit him solidly in the upper chest, throwing his balance off. He staggered back, but kept coming. Dropping to the ground, she lashed one leg out, catching him in the ankle. He flew over her crouched body and rolled up to his feet. Hinata began to gain confidence. This didn't seem that difficult.

That confidence began to crack when the sound-nin began to actually fight back. He proved to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat, striking with a speed that Hinata couldn't match. Small, high-pitched whines seemed to come from each strike. Her ears began to throb as his speed increased. He may have his own techniques, but Hinata could match him easily.

She began to target her own attacks, aiming for the main organs of the body. His height worked against him as she came in underneath him, striking up at his sternum. It was a firm hit, and she felt the warm splash of blood against her face. Blood was pouring from his nostrils and mouth. He looked at her in shock. Suddenly, he had a kunai in his hand and struck out at the back of her head with the blunt end. It hit her neatly in the base of the skull, tumbling her down into darkness.

Kurenai focused on her own enemy, finding that she was able to easily meet his assaults. Too easily, she thought. Her thoughts were correct. As she struck forward at him, he somersaulted backwards, slapping his hands together through a series of seals. Behind her, she heard a rustle and the sound of palms hitting together. The other sound-nin.

A loud, ringing tone rang through the clearing, making Kurenai's very sinuses vibrate. Tears sprung to her eyes, although she tried to fight them back as her ears felt like they were going to implode. A trickling in her ear heralded the beginning of the flow of blood. They _had_ burst. She took a staggering step forward, and fell forward against a tree. Her balance was so off that there was probably no way she could walk for a while, much less fight. The thing that really bothered her was that there was nothing she could do about it.

Seeing double, she saw the two…four? nins back up across the clearing. And she caught sight of Hinata's still form. Praying that her student wasn't dead, she crawled across to the girl, the world spinning around her. She was fine, just unconscious. A bruise forming behind her student's ear betrayed the reason.

Sakura and Ino dropped down from the tree next to her, forming a triangle defensive stance. "Kurenai, what are we going to do?" Sakura whispered softly to the mission leader.

"How are you two?" Kurenai responded, exploring her options. It was hard to hear, and she tilted her head towards the person speaking.

"Tired, but okay," Ino responded, voice dragging.

"I'm fine," Sakura continued. "Ino used her jutsu, and missed."

Kurenai nodded, thinking. They probably could use the jutsu they'd just performed on her more than a few times. And that probably wasn't the only skill they could use. But she thought she might have done some damage to her personal opponent. Signaling Ino and Sakura, they moved back behind a tree, carefully carrying Hinata. The dark-haired girl was beginning to move slightly, waking up.

"It's four on two," Sakura whispered, closing her eyes to think. "Sound attacks," she continued to mutter to herself, collecting her thoughts.

Kurenai created a plan first, and turned to fill the others in, keeping a cautious eye on the darkness around them. Ino and Sakura nodded in understanding. Low to the ground, Kurenai and Sakura moved off. Ino stayed with Hinata, waiting for the girl to wake up.

Hidden low in the brush, Kurenai created three separate clones, spreading them out around the clearing. Focusing just a small bit of chakra to each, she sent them out, flowing through trees to distract the sound-nin who were still within. She still couldn't move well, her feet seemed to tangle with each other every time she took a step. Clones were the best she could do.

Sakura, opposite from Kurenai, saw the clones enter the clearing, slipping out of the trees like ghosts. Straining her eyes, she could see the two sound-nin move so they were back-to-back, hands clasped together. One of them had a dark streak, possibly blood, down the front of his clothing. The other just looked…off. One of his arms seemed as if it was held too tightly to his side, and the upper half looked broken. They _had _taken some damage, it seemed.

Kurenai's clones were all heavily armed with kunai, probably making them more dangerous than the real Kurenai was right now. Sakura saw the sound-nin focus on them, quickly counting the enemies. Their joined hands moved against each other, possibly a sort of signal language between them.

As Sakura watched, their hands moved again. A single note rang out, low and jarring. One of the sound implants, but only one. Then the other began, harmonizing and making Sakura's knees weaken. Her muscles seemed to turn to water, and she fell to the ground.

She could see everything, but she couldn't move a muscle. Her hearing was partially gone as well. Being unable to move scared her more than anything. She could only watch as the sound-nin separated their hands. The clones had all dissipated; their plan stopped almost before it had begun. And they had heard Sakura fall.

Watching as one of them approached her, Sakura's breathing came faster. It seemed almost as if his slick smile and hungry eyes glittered in the darkness.

Sakura could move now, but she had no energy, no power. It was as if all of the energy was gone, sapped out of her by a single sound. Even if she could stand, she could not support her own weight for even a moment. He was standing next to her now, kunai in hand and a nasty grin on his face. "I wonder how your blood tastes," he hissed, leaning towards her.

"Tamasine!" the other barked. "Don't. Finish her quickly."

The first scowled down at Sakura. "He always ruins my fun," he whispered, voice softening. His hand gently stroked her face, but still, she couldn't move away. She felt too weak. Tamasine leaned in, resting the kunai at her throat. "Good night, sweet one."

"No!" Ino appeared out of the air, swinging her heel down towards Tamasine's head. Whirling, he raised his arms to defend himself, and Ino's foot hit his hands solidly. The sound of bones cracking was audible. Landing on her outstretched leg, she continued her movement, lashing out with her other foot. The man threw himself backwards, sliding in a three-point stance.

"Two delicious treats for me?" The sound-nin cocked his head to one side, still smiling broadly. His broken hands dangled in front of him, ignored. One of his fingers bent sideways, dripping blood. He wouldn't be using any more hand-seals tonight. His arm was still tucked up tightly to his side, another advantage.

"We're not your treats," Ino snarled, taking a wide stance in front of Sakura. She held a kunai in each hand, a sneer on her face. The other girl only watched as her friend stood up for her and protected her. "I'll show you."

Obligingly, he offered a hand to her. "We will dance, you and I?" he asked.

"Sure, dance." Ino stepped into a fighting stance, a signal. "You look like you're lonely."

"Oh, but I am. It's been so lo-" Tamasine spun, deflecting the kunai Hinata had thrown from above. The girl followed shortly after, from the side instead. Her long-reaching hit struck him solidly in the side, while Ino approached from behind.

Originally distracted by Hinata, he barely countered Ino's attack in time. A scratch on his neck leaked blood from her near miss. As he began to slow, Ino and Hinata speeded up their attacks in turn. Their endurance together could certainly outlast his, especially after Kurenai had gotten a turn at him. With a broken arm and more than a few broken fingers, he flinched with every hit he took, whether he blocked it or not. Slowly, he began to wear down.

Behind him, his brother called out four sharp words. A change came over the first shinobi, and he moved into a different stance. He seemed to ignore his injuries and began to move with renewed energy. Ino and Hinata had to struggle to keep up, only occasionally getting a hit in.

Pushing herself, Byakugan activated, Hinata felt an odd teamwork with Ino. When she increased her intensity, Ino decreased hers, and vice-versa. It preserved energy, so they could outlast Tamasine, but his brother had done something that made that plan impossible. Searching for the other sound-nin, Hinata saw him, across the clearing.

The twins were backing up towards each other, looking for something safe behind them. But their movements looked odd, as if they were stilted. Stiff and awkward. Suddenly, she realized why they looked funny. The pair were mirroring each other. Twins.

"They're matching!" she called out, looking to Kurenai, who was starting to lose her dizziness. Behind her, she saw Sakura begin to struggle up, limbs shaking. After gaining a sitting position, the girl's face was pale and sweaty. What had that sound done to her?

Finally, Tamasine and Toshi were back to back. Hinata knew that this would be the last round in this fight. Kurenai approached the two, bringing her superior taijutsu skills into play again, although she was a little shaky.

After the jounin arrived to back Hinata up, Ino broke away to go to Sakura. Kurenai and Hinata continued their attacks, watching carefully for hints about ones movement from the others. Their attacks were more powerful, as if their strength had increased. Their hits jarred Hinata's arms when she blocked.

Kurenai suddenly rolled backwards and away, and Hinata followed her lead. Tamasine and Toshi turned as one to face them. "Hinata, you have to use the Gentle Fist," Kurenai muttered quickly, barely pausing for breath. Before Hinata realized it, Kurenai was gone already, engaging the two sound-nin again.

Reluctantly, the Hyuuga prepared to use her special technique, her hand tightly clutching the family crest hanging around her neck. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to kill; she had no reason. They were probably just thieves, who'd gotten caught in the act. There wasn't a reason for them to die. But they wanted her and her friends to die. A proverbial rock and a hard place. She'd used the Gentle Fist earlier, but that was simple, just light contact. He'd coughed blood all over. Could she do more?

Looking over, she saw Ino help Sakura to her feet. The sound-nin couldn't move far apart because of the jutsu, and Kurenai was fighting them alone. Hinata's face hardened. She _could _do more. Standing, she moved into her family's stance. Not just her family's. Her own.

Her first hit landed solidly in the middle of Tamasine's stomach. He'd been distracted by Kurenai, and hadn't expected another enemy to arrive so suddenly. Unforgiving, Hinata continued her charge, thrusting a palm up towards his heart. He easily blocked her attack, knocking it aside with a forearm. The blood on his clothing already marked him as the one she'd been fighting earlier. He would already have damage from her Gentle Fist.

Kurenai moved beside her, a flurry of action. Although she didn't have Hinata's bloodline, she did have years of experience on her side. They worked well together, systematically striking at their enemies. Moving together, the twins' attacks gained power, but were more predictable. Hinata was barely able to keep up with them, and spent most of her time dodging to avoid injury.

It was a deadlock, each pair able to match the other. Hinata's breath was coming faster, and next to her, she could hear Kurenai's grunts as she blocked strikes and returned with her own. They needed something new. Kurenai was right about using her technique; her special attacks would injure both of them. Something needed to be done, but she wasn't fast enough to strike with her Gentle Fist now that she was tired and injured.

The next strike Tamasine threw at her, she dodged under, dropping seemingly bonelessly to the ground. Crouched low to the ground, she flew upwards at the other twin, coordinating with Kurenai. As the jounin's punch aimed for his head, Hinata struck him firmly in the chest. He choked, coughing and gagging on his own blood. Tamasine performed the same actions, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. The same jutsu that allowed them to mirror movements reflected damage as well. Unable to recover in time, both were extremely vulnerable.

Quickly stepping forward, Kurenai buried a kunai in each of their throats with a flick of the wrists, using the advantage Hinata had created

. A single choking gasp and Tamasine fell to the ground, blood leaking out around Kurenai's weapon. Toshi managed to shape his hand into an obscene gesture before succumbing to blood loss. Kneeling, the surviving jounin felt for a pulse. Finding none, she jerked her knife back out of her former opponent, wiping the blood off on his shirt. Tamasine still had a slight pulse, quickly ended.

Frowning, Kurenai called her students over. "We don't have time to deal with these properly. We leave them here, because we can't carry them, and we can't bury them. A fire could grow out of control." She began to arrange the bodies, folding the arms over their chest.

Sakura and Hinata knelt to help, laying the other out flat. Ino swaggered, woozy again, and sat down heavily. "You mean that's it?" she asked, leaning over to try and get rid of her dizziness. "We kill them, lay them out, and leave?"

"What did you expect?" Kurenai asked, standing with her hands on her hips.

"Well…something a little more than just killing them," Ino responded angrily.

"They would have killed _us_ and left _us_ here to rot," Kurenai continued reasonably. "Get up. We need to keep moving. We'll rest in a little bit."

Reluctantly, the girls stood and followed Kurenai, collecting their packs and gear before limping out into the night. Hinata turned and looked over her shoulder, watching the dark forms on the ground until she couldn't see them anymore.


	7. Concealment

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto - never have, never will. By the way, I no longer really have a beta/editor, so if someone would be willing to do me the great service, or direct me to someone who could, I'd be oblidged. (Somehow I don't think spell-check alone'll cut it.) Anyways, sorry for the long wait. (Unfortunately, it's habit...) and I hope I'll have the next chapter available soon. (Although it's probably hopeless). I have promised myself though that this fic WILL be finished. So rest assured, folks.  
**

**Innocence**

**Chapter 7: Concealment**

Morning light began to tint the forest floor a deep green. Looking up, Hinata could just see the clouds beginning to lighten. It was almost dawn. The four of them hadn't stopped yet since their battle with Tamasine and Toshi, twin chuunin from Sound Village. Kurenai insisted they had to keep moving, had to get as far away as possible before the light. Ino looked like she was about to drop to the ground, and Sakura's legs still seemed a little shaky from the fight.

Finally, Kurenai announced a rest, leading them to a small cave, dug into the side of a mountain. Hinata looked blearily up at it. She could have sworn that same mountain had been a simple dot on the horizon earlier. "We'll stop here," Kurenai explained as they settled in. "We won't want to start up this mountain until we get a good rest. It's a long trip."

"All right," Sakura answered quietly, sitting down on the ground and wrapping her blanket around her. In a few seconds, she was asleep. Ino sat beside her, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. She too, fell asleep quickly.

Kurenai sat down as well, looking at Hinata carefully. There were small crescent-shaped bruises forming behind her ears. The jounin frowned; that wasn't a good sign. The teacher sat back against the cave wall, unpleased. "Any ringing in your ears? You can hear all right?"

"No. I'm fine," the girl answered quietly.

"You just need to rest. There's no other treatment for it right now. I think you've got a skull fracture," Kurenai explained. "We might need to put you on medicine later for swelling."

Hinata said nothing, and simply opened her medical kit. The bottom layer of the box was full of bandages and gauze, among other various supplies. She went to Kurenai, carefully peeling away the field dressing she'd put on her teacher's arm earlier. The dried blood on the bandage flaked off and occasionally the wrap stuck to the wound, but Kurenai remained quiet through the pain. Still silent, Hinata poured water onto a piece of cloth and gently washed the cut. The wound was completely stopped bleeding, but the danger of infection was high.

Taking that into account, the genin added antibiotics to the new bandage she wrapped around Kurenai's arm. Luckily, the single wound was probably Kurenai's most serious injury. Injuries caused by sound probably couldn't be treated anyways. Done with her bandaging, she passed Kurenai a small container of bruise ointment and began to put a different lotion on her own bruises.

"Why so quiet?" Kurenai asked as she opened the container. The medicinal smell of the salve wafted up to bite her nose, and she suppressed a sneeze.

"I'm tired," Hinata tried.

Kurenai just shook her head and glared. "There's something more going on." She paused to dab some ointment on a bruise on her arm. "Is it about the sound-nin?"

Hinata nodded slightly. "I…just don't understand." Kurenai waited through Hinata's silence, knowing the girl would continue when she was ready.

"I just don't understand why I can never do anything right," Hinata finally said, voice breaking with frustration.

"Like what?" Kurenai prodded, already knowing the response.

"On missions. I always do something wrong. I end up hurt, or getting others hurt," Hinata answered quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I can't help it, and I can't stand it."

"But is it really your fault?"

"It feels like it is. I can't even protect myself," Hinata protested, holding back tears.

"You know, I'm not going to spend my time talking you out of this," Kurenai finally answered. "Every time we have this conversation, it's not like it changes. I've told you, you need to believe in your strengths."

"Like what?"

"You know them; you just need to learn to work on them. And I'm not listening to any more right now." Kurenai pulled a blanket out of her pack and began to wrap it around her. "Take first watch. You shouldn't sleep right away after a head injury anyways. Think about what I said. Good night."

Hinata watched forlornly as her teacher pulled her head inside her blanket. Kurenai always told her that she was good at her medicines, and other such things. Sometimes, Hinata harbored a small dream that one day she could be a skilled med-nin, like Tsunade. That dream always died when reality intruded.

Med-nin had to be strong, they had to be fighters, and they had to be brave. They just had to be _better_ than she was. People tried to motivate her, especially her family. Look where that had gotten her. Sighing, she carefully rested her head in her hands, cautious not to jostle too much.

Unbidden, a familiar face surfaced in her memory at the thought of motivation. Naruto. He was the only who actually made her stronger, who made her feel brave. He unearthed something buried deep down inside of her, and he didn't even realize it.

Why did things always end up this way? Things always ended up tangled and messed up until she barely even knew which direction she was headed. She knew it was just self-pity; Kurenai discussed it with her often enough. But if Hinata didn't feel sorry for herself, who would?

No. She couldn't do that. _That _was why everybody else was stronger; they _believed _in their own strength. She sighed again. She just needed to find something to believe in. Part of her wanted to just admit it: she wanted to prove herself to her family; she wanted to show them all that they were wrong. However, the quieter, and unfortunately, larger part of her didn't want to say that she wanted to be so rebellious. For now, distraction from her own pity would have to do.

Hinata pulled her novel out of her bag again. It was an old book, one she remembered from younger days. One she could get lost in. All that was left now was to wait for morning to come.

In an instant, she jumped awake, eyes snapping open. Her book lay beside her, dropped when she had dozed off. Worried, she quickly and quietly checked for things that could have gone wrong. Everything was fine. Kurenai and Ino still slept peacefully, and Sakura sat at the mouth of the cave. Her quiet humming carried softly to Hinata's ears. Nothing horrible had happened. Everything was fine. Her error hadn't caused anything awful. It had been a long time since she'd fallen asleep on watch. She let her shoulders relax, calm again. A growing headache began to nag at the sides of her head. Trying to ignore it, she began to quietly pack her things. Sakura heard her and turned.

"You're awake," she stated. "Kurenai told me that I should just let everybody sleep."

Hinata nodded, careful not to move her head too quickly. "When are we supposed to leave?" she asked, glancing at the two sleeping beside her.

"Whenever they wake up," Sakura answered.

"We'll just wait then?"

Sakura shrugged in reply, and then turned to face outside the cave once again. Hinata returned to her packing, wondering why it was so hard for her to talk to other people.

Genjutsu shielded two men from enemy eyes, making them appear as two large birds. The tree they sat it was spindly and skeletal; the harsh wind stripped all the leaves off the branches. The two sat motionlessly, observing the small group below with sharp eyes. Three younger girls and an older woman. Almost recognizable, but not quite.

One of the men sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing in frustration. He thought he'd had the entire bingo book memorized, but he just couldn't place them. He turned to his partner, pushing his wooden mask up on his face. "Dammit, I can't figure out who they are," he muttered, scowling.

His partner turned his unreadable face towards him, leaving his owl mask in place. "The one is, I believe, Yuuhi Kurenai, a jounin from Konohagakure. Main skills: genjutsu. Possesses a currently unknown bloodline," he listed in a deep monotone.

The other man looked at him in disbelief. "You really _do _have that whole thing memorized," he breathed, unbelieving.

"Don't you?"

"Shut up."

"Everybody ready?" Kurenai asked, putting a final touch on her tattered, worn kimono. The entire ensemble was originally made of fine material, but that had been years ago. She had purposely chosen older, shabby clothing to help their image as a small group of down-at-the-heel singers and dancers.

"Why are we doing this now? We've been in Cloud Country for a while now, haven't we?" Sakura grumbled, concentrating on adjusting the bow in Ino's sash.

"Actually, no. We just entered it last night, and the mountain we're currently resting in is what most people see as the 'beginning' of their sphere of influence," Kurenai explained, turning to inspect her students. All three wore the same type of kimono as well, older and losing their bright colors. Ino's hair had been let down, and Sakura's had been tied up into a small, ladylike bun. Hinata felt small and drab next to them. It was as if she had been colored in black and white, while they were bright and vibrant. Blues and pinks, yellows and greens, while all she had was black and white.

"Ah. Before I forget," Kurenai beckoned to Hinata. "_You _are wearing contacts. Your eyes are a dead giveaway."

Hinata nodded and accepted the small case from her teacher. She had been told of this before. On any missions involving subterfuge, contacts or genjutsu would be required for her, or anyone of the Hyuuga lineage. When time allowed, contacts were preferred, as they were less vulnerable than genjutsu, and were not detectable by the chakra they used.

None of her missions before had ever required stealth such as this. She had tried contacts out before, just for the experience, but it had been a while. Carefully, she held her eye open and popped one gently in. She blinked as her eye watered a bit, and then placed the other one in. Blinking repeatedly to settle them, she turned to Sakura and Ino. "Do you please have a mirror I can borrow?" she asked politely. Sakura stared at her for a second, before turning to her pack and handing Hinata a small facial mirror.

Sliding it open, she checked her eyes. They looked _normal_. A dark purple in color, _normal _human eyes stared back at her. A small hint of the unearthly white remained around the edges, but surprisingly, she liked her appearance. It had been so long since she'd had anything _but _the Byakugan; she had forgotten how much she liked looking like everybody else. Hinata smiled a bit, and returned the mirror to Sakura. "Thank you," she said softly.

"All right," Kurenai announced, shouldering her pack. "Let's head out."

"Are you hungry _again_, Yummy?" Naruto asked, unbelieving of the appetite a kitten could have. He set a small plate of tuna down on the ground and watched happily as the cat attacked it voraciously. The boy squatted on the floor next to the animal, watching him eat.

"Sooo…," he began conversationally. "How do you think Hinata's doing?"

The tiny black cat looked up at him and mewed loudly before returning to his food.

"I think she must be doing good too," Naruto answered. "She's grown a lot since I last saw her before the chuunin exams."

Yasuo was uninterested. "Okay," the boy finally said. "I'll be back later.' He patted the cat on the head and stood, heading out to lunch with Iruka once more.

As the group climbed higher up the worn, steep path, the air seemed to get thinner. All of them began to breathe a little harder, and the temperatures dropped. A while later, they came into patches of fog, which became constant. "Must be why they call it Cloud Village," Ino muttered as they walked.

"Really," Sakura replied sarcastically.

"Shh," Kurenai hushed them. "Remember to be quiet, demure, graceful, all that. Use your new names only."

"Yes, Aneko-san," Sakura murmured, bending her head respectfully. Hinata glanced up at Kurenai, noting that the other woman had placed contacts in her eyes as well, darkening them to a deep brown.

"Sound seems to carry better here too," Kurenai warned them. "Watch what you say."

Replies were cut off as the first signs of civilization began to appear. Small shacks and run-down houses littered the ground, dark and seemingly empty. After another bit of walking in silence, a bridge confronted them. It spanned a wide mountain river, and guard booths waited at either end. A man stepped out of the small building to face them, idly spinning a kunai through the fingers of one hand. "Papers," he barked, a simple one-word order.

Kurenai set her pack gently on the ground and pulled a thick sheaf of papers from the top. Meekly, she handed them over, brushing her fingers lightly over his wrist.

The guard ignored her, briskly flipping through the stamped and signed travel papers. "Oki?" he snapped, watching them with sharp eyes. Ino inclined her head. "Kaiya and Nozomi?" he continued. Hinata and Sakura bowed their heads in turn. "Aneko," the guard finished. He flipped through the papers once more before handing them back harshly.

"Move on," he growled.

Kurenai took the papers back, tucking them into the front of her kimono. "Thank you," she purred, continuing with, "I'd be so lucky if I had a man like you to guard my lonesome home." Her lips pursed outward slightly, and a slight flush ran through her cheeks as she smiled softly and looked away.

The guard abruptly cleared his throat and looked down. "Move on, I said," he coughed, voice breaking slightly.

"Thanks again," Kurenai oozed, running her fingers down his arm as she walked away, beckoning the girls to follow her.

Halfway across the bridge, Ino cocked an eyebrow at Kurenai. "The art of seduction?" she asked, rather curious.

"Top of the class," Kurenai smirked. "That was just a warm-up. Turn it up a little more and they're putty in your hands," she added with a large wink.

Ino nodded knowingly. "You won't ever have a chance, Nozomi," she taunted, poking Sakura in the arm.

"What makes you think _you _have one? Not with that ugly pig face," Sakura shot back.

"That's enough," Kurenai hissed, placing a hand on Ino's shoulder. The two quieted, pointedly ignoring each other. After crossing the bridge, the group remained in a run-down section of the main town. A squat brown building had a battered sign outside, proclaiming it a motel. Kurenai headed towards it, her students trailing after her.

"We're not staying here, are we?" Ino asked, lip curling.

"Indeed we are. Remember, no money?" Kurenai snapped back. "I don't want to hear another word."

"I just don't know if my delicate skin can handle it," Ino sarcastically muttered under her breath.

"Buckle down, princess," Kurenai growled, growing tired of the conversation. "You're not going to be finding any silk sheets here." Ino stuck her tongue out at the older woman, crossed her arms, and pouted.

"Why do we only get one room?" Ino questioned, plopping half-heartedly onto the first threadbare bed. Sakura sat down beside her, while Kurenai and Hinata sat down on the other. "Nobody's watching us here," Ino continued.

"_That_ is where you're wrong. Never assume – it only gets you in trouble," Kurenai said grimly as she began to unpack her things. "Let's leave it at that." A light roll of fabric was hauled out of her pack and set on the bedspread. Unrolling it, Kurenai unveiled a set of detection tools, and used them to search the room for listening devices and hidden jutsu, gesturing at the other three to help her.

Nothing untoward was found, except for a rather displeasing dead mouse in the small, grimy bathtub. Satisfied, Kurenai dug in her pack again, replacing the detection kit and choosing a weapons pack.

These weapons packs were specially designed for kunoichi on surveillance or spy missions. Usually those on that type of mission were deadly, beautiful, and covert, just as these weapons. She unrolled it on the bed and called the girls over. "Covert weapons and operations, surveillance," she stated. "Begin."

Hinata took her teacher's usual cue and spoke quickly and quietly. "The object of a surveillance operation is observation and nothing more. Access can be attempted to more information, but thieving, breaking-and-entering, and other such activity is not included. The main objective is to gain information without revealing your identity or source. In more involved operations, it may take place over a series of months, or even years. Infiltration may take a while, as job positions may need to be earned, as well as the trust of the intended target."

Sakura glanced over at the smaller girl, a little surprised that Hinata knew and could recite so much, especially without stuttering or trailing off.

"Sakura?" Kurenai prompted.

"A variety of weapons can be used covertly," Sakura began in a rush, flushing slightly. "These hairpins," she continued, gesturing to four sets of jeweled ornaments, "are all sharpened to weapons-quality. The middle of each is hollow, but reinforced against breakage. The jewels on the end have a simple genjutsu placed on them to hide their usage as poison containers. Pop the bead, and the poison runs through the needle. Judging by the illusory shape, the poison in these sets is fast-acting, of the five to ten minute variety. They can easily be used as throwing needles, piercing weapons, or fancy hair decorations," she recited, smiling.

They continued through the weapons pack, reciting names, usages, and the peculiarities of each weapon. Steel-edged fans, as well as bladed ones, hidden claws, poisons hidden in all manner of places, spiked rings. All of them were within the case, and as they went over them, Kurenai divided the weapons among them. Each item was added to the girls' ensembles, increasing their weaponry without any outward sign.

Grinning, Ino snapped her steel fan open, getting used to the rather heavy weight. Hers was normally used as a bludgeoning weapon, unlike Hinata and Sakura's, who both had bladed fans. Opened and with a simple touch of chakra, the fan blade hardened, and the seeming silver filigree along the edge sharpened into a blade.

Kurenai watched them experiment, knowing that the covert weapons were basically the same as any other they used, just a different shape. She frowned – Hinata had been quieter than usual today, almost to the point of being mute. Putting it out of her mind for the moment, she announced, "Put it all away, girls. We have to get going."

"Where?" Ino asked, unsure.

"The Kage here holds daily audiences every afternoon," Kurenai explained, tucking away her own weapons. "He seems to have a rather large ego, and a need for publicity."

"So we go to observe." Sakura finished, nodding knowingly.

"Exactly."

"What about singing and dancing and all that?" Ino questioned, curious about their disguises.

"We'll only be here three days, four at the most," Kurenai answered. "If we have to, we'll dance, but otherwise we're just passing through."

The jounin looked around at her three students. Their faces were dull and passive – they looked worried. "Don't worry, girls," she said quietly. "This is just a basic introduction to all this. Just a few days. All you have to do is keep your heads clear, remember your disguises, and don't act too quickly."

Giving them no time for a response, she stood and clapped her hands together. "Let's get going then," she declared, and shooed them out the door. However, some small part of her mind couldn't help worrying.

"Aiko?"

"Yes, Ren?"

"The identities of those four are confirmed."

"And…?"

"Well, they left us some presents at their motel room, but they were easily overcome. Nothing too dangerous. Konohagakure hitai-ate, all four of them, base of their bags. All current."

"Are they in the books?"

"Yeah. Want the names?"

"Yes, Ren. I want the names."

"Ummm…Yuuhi Kurenai, Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, and Hyuuga Hinata."

"A Hyuuga?"

"I guess."

"Watch them closely. At the first sign…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Good."

The audience chamber reminded Hinata of a church. Rows of benches were lined up on either side of a long aisle, leading to the Raikage's chair. Really, it looked more like a throne. People filled the seats, and at the front of the room, two women sat beside the Kage himself.

The first woman actually sat in his lap, long legs stretched across him. Her dark hair trailed down on the other side. One of her arms was wrapped lazily around his shoulders, and her eyes were half-closed, perfectly relaxed. The other woman stood just beside the two, uneasy. Dressed all in black, her face was tight and drawn. White-blonde hair hung down, which was unusual, as a Thunder Village hitai-ate was tied tightly around her neck. Although she looked pale and tense, she was unmistakably beautiful, like the first woman.

The Raikage himself looked feminine, with a narrow face, high cheekbones, and large dark eyes. This was fortunately offset by broad shoulders and well-sculpted muscles. His strong arms were visible even underneath the cloth of his white robes. The traditional hat rested on his light-colored hair, beginning to slide unheeding backwards on his head.

The four kunoichi slid quietly into a bench, not taking their eyes off the Raikage. Indeed, it was hard to. He was a captivating man – Kurenai could understand why the man's relatively recent coup had been so successful. He undoubtedly had had many allies. It was hard to put your finger on why. In Kurenai's mind, it was rather like a horrible accident – it was incredibly difficult to tear your eyes away from it.

As they watched, a bell began to ring. At that signal, some people got up and left the room, while others stayed. Hinata and her group moved closer, taking available seats. As they watched, a man came in from a small side door. Fully armed and very nervous, he fidgeted with the collar of his flak jacket as he walked stiffly to the front of the room. Woodenly, he bowed and softly said, "I present myself for your challenge."

Hinata saw Sakura lean forward and ask an older woman something. Turning back to the others, she had an answer for what was occurring. "It's a challenge," she explained. "The Raikage likes watching fights, so he has his bodyguards fight one other, once a week. Sometimes to the death, sometimes not."

"Gruesome," Ino commented, wrinkling her nose and turning to watch. At the front of the room, the purpose of the large cleared space was now clear. The woman dressed in black stood on one side, while the man stood on the other.

"Kana, Keisuke," the Raikage said, his voice bored. "You may begin."

Kana, the woman, shifted into a wide stance, one hand held low at her side, the other extended towards her opponent. Eyes closed, she used her sense to detect her opponent, centering on his scent, his feel, and the sound of his breathing. He wasn't moving, waiting for her to make the first move.

Slowly, she stepped forward, one bare foot pointed delicately at the ground. Moving faster, her other foot darted forward in a neat cross-step, pivoting neatly on the ball of her other foot. Flying towards Keisuke, who shifted into a defensive stance to meet her, her hands crossed over each other, finally striking out in a precisely targeted hit towards Keisuke's collarbone.

Hinata was struck by the resemblance of her attack to a dance. Watching as the blonde shinobi whirled around her opponent, her footwork was delicate and precise, her attacks strong, and her speed more than a match for him. Keisuke blocked with both forearms, wincing as the impact of her stroke jarred his shoulders. It seemed like such a light blow – it was incredibly surprising. Kana took a single step backwards, side-stepped forwards again, and held one palm out towards Keisuke. Without a word or even a hand seal, a blast of flame burst from her hand.

Keisuke narrowly avoided the jutsu, keeping out of the way and attacking Kana from above, kunai in both hands. Violently, he slashed out at her, catching her lightly across one shoulder. He landed roughly on top of her, and as her knees buckled, she grabbed quickly for his ankles. Her fall was, unfortunately for him, a planned move, and as she flipped forward, he pitched forward as well, slamming his head and shoulders into the floor viciously into the floor.

Many of those in the audience winced at the sight of it, and for a moment, he lay still on the floor. Kana knelt by his side, two fingers on his neck. Before she had a chance to feel his pulse, his hand clasped her wrist in an iron grip. He pulled her over him, pushing a knee into her stomach, and throwing her heavily onto the floor, straddling her.

Almost immediately, she was gone, replaced by a log. Neatly, Kana knocked him in the head with a kunai, and he fell to the ground from her hard blow. "Winner," she said quietly, bowing to the Raikage.

"Thank you," he conceded, inclining his head. Then he gestured imperiously at the still form on the ground in front of him. "Remove him."

"Well, that's a nice way to end the day," Kurenai said quietly. "Let's go.

**Okay, so maybe there're some OCs in here. They're not going to be too intrusive, but they will play a part in the plot, of course. Also, I'm thinking of including Team Gai in a roundabout sort of way. (Next chapter has the reason.) Yes, no?**

**Also, within the next chapter, rating WILL go up. Sorry. It gets a little darker, little rougher, and 1) I rather like writing it, and 2) Who am I to tone down the real world?**

**Thanks for reading!**


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